After widespread criticism from Florida Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis, singers Kid Rock and Travis Tritt, and others on the right, Bud Light has replaced the executive behind the disastrous ad campaign that utilized transgender influencer, Dylan Mulvaney.
On Friday, Beer Business Daily reported, “Anheuser-Busch has shared a statement with BBD on management changes to Bud Light in the wake of the Dylan Mulvaney can controversy.”
“Former Bud Light marketing [Vice President] 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.”
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In a statement, Anheuser-Busch said that its “most senior marketers are more closely connected to every aspect of our brand’s 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.”
As The Free Press reported last week, Heinerscheid said in a recent interview that she wanted Bud Light to “evolve and elevate” from its past reputation and seek “inclusivity.” She argued this was necessary because she believed Bud Light was “in decline.”
“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,’” Heinerscheid said in that interview.
In the news: Bud Light Execs Claim They Had No Idea The Face Of Their Brand Was Changing
“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. And representation is sort of the heart of revolution.”
Her answer to that decline, apparently to the surprise of other executives at Anheuser-Busch, was creating a can featuring Mulvaney, a biological man who identifies as a woman, and allowing Mulvaney to promote Bud Light during March Madness.
Protests from conservatives ensued, including calls for boycotting Bud Light.
Among them was Gov. DeSantis.
“Why do you want to drink Bud Light?” DeSantis told conservative journalist Benny Johnson, as The Free Press reported earlier this week.
“Honestly, that’s like them rubbing our faces in it. And it’s like these companies, if they never have any response, they’re just gonna keep doing it.”
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