Woke Bud Light VP of Marketing “Off the brand,” Still No Evidence They Understand Why a Trans “Brand Ambassador” Was a Bad Idea
Caught in a PR nightmare, AB still doesn’t have any idea how to fix their relationship with their customer base.
Anheuser-Busch (AB) stepped in it. Bigly. As I noted on April 9th,
For some reason the powers that be at Anheuser-Busch thought it would be a good move to make a man their spokesgirl. This is the now-European owned company that makes all-American beers like Budweiser and Bud Light, not exactly the market in which one expects to find support for the increasingly violent and radical transgender ideology.
Initially, AB defended this wildly unpopular decision, but as boycotts kicked in and the reality of the wide-spread customer displeasure became too much to ignore, they trotted out their CEO’s vapid, tone-deaf statement. It wasn’t an apology; it wasn’t even a recognition that they had alienated and offended a huge portion of their customer base.
Needless to say, neither defending nor ignoring the situation improved things . . . as AB discovered when Bud Light’s Twitter account tentatively queried after a week of radio silence: “TGIF?”.
Caught in a PR nightmare, AB still doesn’t have any idea how to fix their relationship with their customer base. We know this because their latest non-apology attempt to appease their irate (and former) customers was to announce that their woke Bud Light marketing VP is on a leave of absence.
And there it is
Bud Light went woke & recently hired Alissa Heinerscheid, a Woke Ivy League grad, as the first woman to lead marketing for a major beer brand
She’s also now the 1st woman to destroy the largest beer brand in the industry
Congrats Alissa!https://t.co/fp6Arv10XH
— DC_Draino (@DC_Draino) April 7, 2023
There is word that she is “off the brand,” so maybe that encompasses something longer term than her leave of absence?
BREAKING: Amid turmoil, BBD has learned Anheuser-Busch has changed #BudLight vp marketing to former global bud vp Todd Allen. pic.twitter.com/9qgovjT7ao
— Beer Business Daily (@BeerBizDaily) April 21, 2023
Bud Light marketing vice president Alissa Heinerscheid is taking a leave of absence and is being replaced by Budweiser global marketing vice president Todd Allen, AdAge reports.
The company has also hired two consultants with experience in Washington, D.C.’s conservative circles to advise the brand moving forward.
Origin Advocacy consultants Sean McLean and Emily Lynch have been brought on to advise “general policy regarding the alcohol-beverage industry,” according to lobbying disclosure reports filed to the U.S. Senate on April 1.
McLean is a veteran of former President Donald Trump’s administration. He also served on the legislative staff of Texas Sen. Ted Cruz.
Lynch has previously held policy staff positions under Republican Rep. Rep. Virginia Foxx and former Sen. Kelly Ayotte.
A nice (likely paid) vacation for the mastermind behind this fiasco . . . and still no word that the company has a clue what went wrong or why.
Breaking in Beer Business Daily:@budlight Management Changes: Todd Allen Appointed VP Bud Light
Former Bud Light marketing VP Alissa Heinerscheid, who was at that post for not quite a year, is off the brand.
We understand she has decided to take a leave of absence.
“Today,…
— Jennifer Sey (@JenniferSey) April 22, 2023
Apparently, the DC conservative consultants weren’t consulted about this latest move or this statement. The “steps” they are taking are full of woke jargon.
Here’s the full statement if you can’t read it in the above tweet (archive link):
“Today, we communicated some next steps with our internal teams and wholesaler partners,” per A-B spokesperson. “First, we made it clear that the safety and welfare of our employees and our partners is our top priority. Second, Todd Allen is appointed Vice President of Bud Light reporting directly to Benoit Garbe, U.S. Chief Marketing Officer. Third, we have made some adjustments to streamline the structure of our marketing function to reduce layers so that our most senior marketers are more closely connected to every aspect of our brands activities. These steps will help us maintain focus on the things we do best: brewing great beer for all consumers, while always making a positive impact in our communities and on our country.”
In the context of this woke marketing disaster, the whole but we care about our employees’ “safety” stuff is ludicrous and comes straight out of the colleges and the whole “safe spaces” with bubbles, coloring books, and Play-Doh nonsense. Further, do we need AB to “make a positive impact on our communities and country”?
Stick to brewing and selling beer. That’s it. Anything more is political and meddling well outside their wheelhouse.
Needless to say, people have thoughts.
“Off the brand” does not equal being fired. Anyone who insults their customers should be fired. Keep the boycott with no end.
— MountainMan (@MountainMan133) April 22, 2023
Wait…what if she is just identifying as someone who is taking a leave of absence? pic.twitter.com/EzJ9kZd9we
— Governor Dill (@TheGreenOldDill) April 22, 2023
Congrats to Dylan Mulvaney for being the first “trans woman” to cost a woke female marketing executive her job. Another glass ceiling has been shattered. pic.twitter.com/AcFtZTIW5J
— Jason Jones (@jonesville) April 22, 2023
It appears the Bud Light marketing VP behind the Dylan Mulvaney campaign is now transitioning to unemployed.https://t.co/MFZMqWCReq
— Jason Howerton (@jason_howerton) April 22, 2023
For those celebrating this isn’t victory, the temporary shuffling of personnel isn’t victory
No acknowledgment of wrongdoing, no apology, not even a basic acknowledgment of the issue in question
It’s an empty and safe gesture hoping conservatives are dumb enough to buy it https://t.co/1o28cUCfBj
— Auron MacIntyre (@AuronMacintyre) April 22, 2023
Still waiting for an apology, an acknowledgment that they even understand why people are upset.
— PNWBirdhunter 🦆 🐕 🇺🇸 (@FanaticLurker) April 22, 2023
The biggest takeaway here is that brands need to stay out of politics.
— Brett Rudy (@bkrudy) April 22, 2023
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Comments
Word on the streeet is that her next position is at Outback Steakhouse, where she will be searching for vegans to promote the place.
Too late, already been boycotting them for 10 years. (No guns zone.)
Certainly not at Hooters – she doesn’t have the required assets
Hooters is too fratty anyway. I’m thinking Starbucks. Behind the counter.
Liberals hate Hooters. Too many pretty young girls using their assets for tips. Also, wings are made from chicken. Liberals would prefer wings made from crickets, grasshoppers, and roaches.
When shooters starts hiring men to wear their women’s costumes, then liberals will be happy.
BudLight is now considered a Trans Beer. Apologizing won’t charge that perception.
You can file this under “Too little, too late.”
Time is of the essence. If they wanted to stop hemorrhaging customers they should’ve taken decisive action right away.
There are more than 20 brands of light beer and a lot of them taste better than Bud Light. If a beer drinker vowed to quit drinking Bud Light and began sampling other brands, there is a good chance they would find something better and never come back.
Peter principle: she will come back to a promotion. That or a golden parachute, possibly a job a CNN.
She will leave with a 7 figure settlement pursuant to an NDA.
1) They do not understand what they have done wrong, They have the same contempt for their customers as politicians have to the people they rule.
2) Even if they do come to understand what they did wrong, they will refuse to admit publicly that they did something wrong. After all, they are so much better than us.
3) I cannot think of anything that would contraindicate continuing the boycott until Bud Light goes Tango Uniform.
Subotai Bahadur
IMO, the folks at AB know exactly how bad they effed up. They had lax SR oversight over marketing which allowed a woke millennial VP to cause massive reputation so damage to the brand for a woke trans stunt. Their announcement indicates they are correcting the oversight issue but that is closing the barn door after the horses are loose.
The problem AB has is the infiltration of woke ideology into their company by ideological employees and probably some board members. They are a blue collar brand with some folks in decision making positions who don’t share the cultural values of their customer base.
These woke or woke tolerant decision makers move in circles where trans ideology is the new hotness and acceptance of it is almost required. They are in a pickle b/c they overestimated the depth and breadth of trans ideology acceptance among the wider public. Most people are appalled at it and wholeheartedly reject it which is likely the position of 3/4 + of their customer base.
The execs at AB will have to decide whether to reject the woke trans ideology or whether to embrace it. They could have kept their corporate opinions to themselves, instead they broadcast them with this foolish embrace of trans ideology. Their isn’t a middle path for them as the reaction to their attempt to create one with flag waving and Clydesdale videos demonstrates. Up to them to choose to respect the cultural values of 3/4+ of their customers or become a much smaller brand serving wokeistas.
Oh they ‘understand’, they just don’t dare understand out loud.
Nike is just as bad, it’s selling women’s sports bras and tights
I guess when you have a one on one meeting with the President of the United States
Bud thought it was game on
Some random thoughts:
Dylan Mulvaney, a man, got a woman fired because he was pretending to be a woman. It did not help that the woman who got fired didn’t think that hiring a man pretending to be a woman was a good idea in the first place.
Drinking Bud Lite is not a good idea. Dylan Mulvaney will start asking questions like, “Does this beer make me look Fratty?”
Dylan Mulvaney will also appear out of touch, since that is the end result of drinking Bud Lite.
The purpose of Bud Lite is to make sure the drinker can believe that Alissa Heinerscheid is pretty.
The purpose of Bud Lite is to ensure the drinker believes Dylan Mulvaney is a girl, and to forget that he stands up when he urinates in the girl’s room. Dylan, note to self. The sink in the girls room is NOT a urinal.
Alissa Heinerscheid did not “take over” Bud Lite as she claims. She was hired as a VP of flacking, trying to convince people that Bud Lite would be better off ditching the blue collar customer and replacing the target audience with people who think it’s a good thing to have anal secks.
I commented on an earlier post that Pepsi has a “Pat” from SNL on the side of the their trucks somehting like “SHE is with Pepsi”
It was effing weird. This was in Western Wa, so they may be trying to rub it in here since Inslee just signed the child mutilation and trafficking bill. Gotta say- I hope the repulsion-cott sticks and bites every one of them.
Dumb asses … This really wasnt a high bar to get over if they wanted to market to trans without losing support
“AB still doesn’t have any idea how to fix their relationship with their customer base.”
1) You literally cannot fix stupid.
2) They still see five lights, and don’t understand why you don’t.
Wonder how many will know that reference
An excellent reference to gas-lighting.
Forcing me to call an apple a banana will never work.
So it turns out the only thing a woman can do better than a man is destroy a company brand
A woman is still a better woman than a man…except for Boy George. An Irishman, posing as a Jew princess? He had me fooled for 90 days.
Strange times, right there. I’d almost forgotten about him and I don’t thank you for reminding me.
In 1983, on the revelation that a man was merely kissing to be clever my friend Rick Plummer remarked that he didn’t care, and would “pack his hockey”.
Oh dear, no more moonshine for Rick!
To be absolutely fair, she needed to hire a man to help her do it.
My understanding from reading multiple news stories is that the VP did not follow correct channels and senior executives had no idea this was happening until it was out there. They are not pleased. Not because of the whole trans thing, I wager, but because they were not in the loop and this disaster made them look weak, uninformed and their ego’s were bruised. The “apology” by the CEO was a classic example of a HR statement crafted to offend no-one by saying nothing of value.
Even Rogan said on his podcast after laughing over this whole thing when it first came out calling Mulvaney a goofy person, that remaining silent then trying to gloss over it all with the video of the horses was insulting.
“This is a company in serious trouble, bro. I’m more insulted now than I was at first. Rolling out the horses and running through wheat fields and waving flags is going to make everyone forget what is going on? What the hell are they thinking?” (sic) Indeed.
Local store got it’s bi-weekly delivery Monday of 20 cases of Bud Light among the rest of the beer. As of Saturday, 5 days later, there were still 19 cases on the floor. Owner told me he never saw anything drop off so fast, no-one is buying it including the guys that buy a 12pack every week.
Honestly, Budweiser, the beer, went woke ages ago. In an attempt to satisfy the maximum number of palates it became tasteless pap. There are literally hundreds of microbrewers putting out for more flavorful beers. Some will strike you as awful. Some will be wonderful. All will have actual flavor to distinguish them.
Budweiser is wokeness in liquid form.
I enjoyed reading this while enjoying a Dead Horse Ale from the Moab Brewing Co, Moab, UT.
It’s just one misstep after another with these clowns. If I spoke to the media about my employer without permission, then I’d likely get fired. Mrs. Ed cost her employer 6 billion in a matter of days and she gets a leave of absence.
Keep the boycott going.
It’s enough to drive a man to drink.
AB products are the middle school equivalent to alcoholic bevarages. Miller is elementary school, we all started with a Miller pony. High school is Sam Adams, adulthood is Yuengling.
Retirement is Ensure.
Smiley young Mr. Heinieschein
Will dress up the unemployment line
But isn’t Bud Light *itself* a bad idea? I’m no beer drinker, but if I was, it sure wouldn’t be that swill.
My working theory is that Bud/Light is cheap and not very filling or intoxicating, so people who wish to enjoy many many brews can easily do so with this brand. People who drink it seem to go through a LOT of it; whereas, people don’t really slam through a 12-pack of a more filling/satisfying beer.
My new Bud Light ad.
1. Frat guy sits at a bar next to dumb brunette woke spokesgirl – I know an available person – who rambles on about leftist crap.
2. Guy downs a few Bud Lights as the girl morphs into a lovely blonde southern girl talking about sports and looking at him longingly.
3. Cut to a banner that says BEER – IT’S WHAT WE DO AND ALL WE DO.
She better be downing them too, or he’s in for a rude surprise.
Like I said before, “leave of absence” = “fired”.
Lets market alcohol to the mentally ill. What could go wrong?