Anheuser Busch is trying to distance itself from the mounting backlash over Bud Light’s disastrous campaign featuring transgender Dylan Mulvaney.
The Daily Wire is reporting that “no one at the senior level” at Anheuser Busch was involved in the “woke” Bud Light marketing campaign.
“No one at a senior level was aware this was happening,” a source told the media outlet.
“Some low-level marketing staffer who helps manage the hundreds of influencer engagements they do must have thought it was no big deal.
“Obviously it was, and it’s a shame because they have a well-earned reputation for just being America’s beer — not a political company. It was a mistake.”
But Bud Light’s vice president of marketing Alissa Heinerscheid did say earlier: “I’m a businesswoman.
“I had a really clear job to do when I took over Bud Light, and it was ‘This brand is in decline, it’s been in a decline for a really long time, and if we do not attract young drinkers to come and drink this brand there will be no future for Bud Light.”
“To evolve and elevate this incredibly iconic brand we need inclusivity, it means shifting the tone, it means having a campaign that’s truly inclusive, and feels lighter and brighter and different, and appeals to women and to men.
“Representation is sort of at the heart of evolution, you have got to see people who reflect you in the work.”
“We had this hangover, I mean Bud Light had been kind of a brand of fratty, kind of out-of-touch humor, and it was really important that we had another approach,” she said.
WATCH:
Meet Alissa Heinerscheid, Bud Light’s VP of Marketing. She explains her strategy of using “inclusive” marketing to promote the brand to young people.
— Ian Miles Cheong (@stillgray) April 9, 2023
Kid Rock started off the boycott with a viral post that has been viewed over 50 million times.
“Grandpa is feeling a little frisky today,” he said in the video.
“Let me say something to you all as clear and concise as possible,” he added before turning his back to the camera and firing off a few rounds at some Bud Light beer cases.
He ended with:
“F*ck Bud Light and f*ck Anheuser Bush.
“Have a terrific day.”
WATCH:
— KidRock (@KidRock) April 4, 2023
According to The Daily Wire:
A second source also claimed that a lower-level employee had made the decision to include Mulvaney in the campaign, a move that appears to have cost the company $5 billion in market value.
The backlash to the iconic American beer brand has been so intense that a Budweiser distributor in Missouri canceled an event with the company’s famous Clydesdale horses because everything was “still sensitive” over the matter.
The second source told The Daily Wire that the company was likely going to implement a more “robust” process for evaluating controversial figures in the future to avoid another public relations nightmare.
As I’ve been digging into this, I’m finding this to be 100% true@AnheuserBusch has donated far more to GOP candidates than Dems, and FAR more than woke @MolsonCoors.
Looks like the Dylan Mulvaney campaign was not approved by senior execs.
Heads should roll. https://t.co/e301ZF2vDU
— John Cardillo (@johncardillo) April 6, 2023
The news comes as Anheuser Busch continues to suffer major financial losses over the campaign.
As Slay News reported earlier, the latest market figures show that a staggering $6.65 billion has been wiped off the value of Anheuser Busch, as of Thursday morning.
READ MORE: Women Start Burning Nike Bras over Dylan Mulvaney Campaign
