Bud Light VPs Placed On Leave Over Trans Influencer Tie-Up

Facts

• On Tuesday, Anheuser-Busch InBev, the world's biggest brewer, placed two senior marketing executives — Alissa Heinerscheid and Daniel Blake — on leave following uproar over Bud Light's marketing partnership with transgender social media influencer Dylan Mulvaney.¹
• Todd Allen, the global Vice President of Budweiser, is set to replace Vice President of marketing Heinerscheid, who headed the Mulvaney ad campaign. No replacement has yet been announced for Blake, the company's Vice President for mainstream brands.²
• The news comes after Mulvaney posted a video of herself on Instagram on April 1 to celebrate her first anniversary of coming out as a transgender woman — it included her opening a personalized can of Bud Light and featured the hashtag #budlightpartner. The content was criticized by GOP senators and prompted calls for a boycott among far-right consumers.³
• In a statement, Anheuser-Busch said the changes to senior management had been made with the aim of streamlining the company's marketing team, so as to maintain its priority of "brewing great beer for all customers."⁴
• With the self-declared intention of dispelling "potential retailer misconception" over the campaign, Anheuser-Busch has maintained that the customized can Mulvaney posted on social media will not be sold to the general public, and that it was not a formal campaign or advertisement.⁵
• The recent uproar caused Bud Light's stock to fall 21% by the week ending April 15. Furthermore, it led to the launch of Ultra Right Beer, which gained more than 10K customers and sold 20K six-packs in its first 12 days. It is also expected to break $1M in sales by the end of the month.⁶

Sources: ¹New York Times, ²New York Post (a), ³The Drinks Business, ⁴Insider, ⁵CNN, and ⁶New York Post (b).

Narratives

• Right narrative, as provided by Amac. Companies such as Bud Light and Disney are destroying their brand over a commitment to woke advertising. While the backlash to Bud Light's trans endorsement has been impressive, there is still a long way to go if conservatives are to secure a lasting victory. Bud Light is yet to apologize for its partnership with Mulvaney. However, many activists have sent an unambiguous message that they will not put up with the continual push of the woke agenda.
• Left narrative, as provided by National Review. The real tragedy here is not Bud Light's 'woke' promotion with Mulvaney, but rather the blatant truth that the company never really cared about promoting inclusivity. Capitulation and a tepid apology due to right-wing pressure highlight that, in the end, Bud Light never really wished to bring people together over a beer but cash in on inclusivity for the sake of its profit margins.

Predictions