Alcoholic beverage giant Anheuser-Busch may have settled on a strategy to move beyond the Dylan Mulvaney debacle that has alienated customers and tanked sales and it looks like the plan involves spinning away the controversy by portraying the backlash as an overreaction.
The company has reportedly sent a letter to wholesalers that was also forwarded to some local restaurants and bars explaining away a marketing decision so disastrous that it will likely be taught in business classes for decades to come as being attributable to the special Bud Light can that was created for the transgender TikToker and went viral on social media, suggesting that it was the “one single can” that was at the root of the crisis that has tarnished the popular brand, perhaps permanently.
“This was one single can given to one social media influencer,” the letter states, according to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch “It was not made for production or sale to the general public. This can is not a formal campaign or advertisement.”
The letter was sent to retailers, restaurants, and bars by Grey Eagle, a company that distributes the company’s products to 14 counties around St. Louis, Mo., the location of Anheuser-Busch’s headquarters and reportedly included a cover letter saying “Anheuser-Busch did not intend to create controversy or make a political statement,” a message that is consistent with comments by CEO Brendan Whitworth who in said in a statement: “We never intended to be part of a discussion that divides people. We are in the business of bringing people together over a beer.”
“In reality, the Bud Light can posted by a social media influencer that sparked all the conversation was provided by an outside agency without Anheuser-Busch management awareness or approval,” the letter continued. “Since that time, the lack of oversight and control over marketing decisions has been addressed and a new VP of Bud Light marketing has been announced.”
The executive who had the brilliant idea to bring in the creepy Mulvaney to hawk the brand because its image was too “fratty” was ousted as it was announced that Harvard-educated Alissa Heinerscheid had taken a leave of absence with former Budweiser global vice president Todd Allen tabbed as her replacement, inheriting the difficult job of cleaning up the mess after customers revolted against the promotion of transgenderism, a lifestyle that many Americans view with revulsion and, unfortunately for Bud Light, a considerable number of its customers are among them.
Outkick founder and nationally syndicated radio host Clay Travis suggested that rebuilding the brand will be daunting during an appearance on Wednesday’s edition of “Fox & Friends” where he discussed the ongoing fallout over Mulvaney.
(Video: Fox News)
“I think this is an unmitigated disaster and it is completely and totally self-inflicted,” Travis said. “I don’t really know how they are going to climb out of this mess, because people are now ridiculing others when they see them drinking Bud Light. Like, if you’re a guy and you’re out at a bar, for a long time, people would just sort of order Bud Light because it was a generic name brand that everybody knew.”
“Now, many people, when they walk up to the bar or they go out to the grocery and they’re buying beer, they’re thinking to themselves, I’ll buy anything other than Bud Light,” he added. “I think this is a warning to all brands out there that have learned over the past 20 years or so, there are no consequences for going super woke in terms of trying to appeal to the far left wing in this country. And then Bud Light puts out this, remember, it was a March Madness advertisement. And it just keeps getting worse and worse. …”
The St. Louis Post-Dispatch quotes the former chief creative officer at Anheuser-Busch, Robert Lachky, who said that the choice of a transgender as a brand ambassador to hawk Bud Light was a massive mistake.
”The minute you step into the political or religious spectrum, when you know your target audience is going to have a real issue with this, you know you’ve alienated at least half of your target audience,” Lachky said. ”In the end, people don’t like getting preached to, especially when it comes to drinking beer.”
Bud Light sales have plummeted 26 percent as the crisis drags on into its second month among accounts of store shelves packed with the product while other beers not manufactured by Anheuser-Busch are experiencing a surge in demand.
“They’ve broken their brand,” Travis said, “and I think they’re in trouble and I think it’s a warning sign to brands everywhere.”
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