It’s no secret that Bud Light has been heading towards rock bottom after their collaboration with transgender influencer Dylan Mulvaney earlier this year.
We saw a ton of Bud Light drinkers turn their backs on the beer in protest. And when Bud Light began to see a drastic decline in sales, they sent out an “apology,” of sorts, which ultimately resulted in a ton of LGBTQ supporters denouncing the beer for turning its back on them and walking back their move.
Needless to say, Anheuser-Busch is getting the worst of both worlds, and it’s ultimately led to a drastic decline in sales, and Modelo has surpassed Bud Light as America’s favorite beer.
Alissa Heinerscheid, the marketing VP who came up with the Mulvaney campaign, has taken a ton of heat for her decision to partner with Mulvaney for a commemorative can, but then dug her heels in even further when she called the brand’s identity “fratty” and “out of touch.”
The beer brand has seen losses to the tune of nearly $30 billion dollars since April 1st, and Heinerscheid has since taken a “leave of absence,” following the backlash.
However now, one anonymous current regional head of marketing for Anheuser-Busch told The Daily Caller that Heinerscheid and head of the company’s mainstream portfolio, Daniel Blake, have been fired.
The source told the outlet:
“To my understanding if we publicly announced the word ‘fire’ it opens up the potential for them to sue us. That’s why we said leave of absence.”
Heinerscheid was reportedly fired because:
“The wholesalers would have had an absolute HAY DAY with leadership if they didn’t remove her.”
The anonymous source did say that Blake was “awesome,” and felt like he just got caught in the crossfire of everything and didn’t deserve to be let go.
“Wholesalers were told they are both gone for good by leadership during in-person conversations. They already shifted all their direct reports to new people and the head of marketing.”
However, according to the New York Post, Anheuser-Busch is denying the report that Heinerscheid and Blake have been fired.
It’s hard to be 100% sure what’s true and what’s not, but what is for certain is that Bud Light are not heading in the right direction.
Anheuser-Busch US CEO Brendan Whitworth stopped by Good Morning America this morning, as he is on a mission to meet with customers and beer drinkers and to have conversations regarding the future of the brand.
However, when asked straight up if he would do the Dylan Mulvaney can again, he declined to give a straight answer:
“As we move forward, we want to focus on what we do best, which is brewing great beer for everyone, listening to our consumers, being humble in listening to them, making sure that we do right by our employee, take care and support our partners, and ultimately make an impact in the communities that we serve.”
He pointed out that they have a history of supporting the LGBTQ community, including rainbow cans, but wouldn’t admit that he would do it again.
He also wouldn’t say that they wouldn’t do it again… so it’s anybody’s guess.
At the end of the day, Bud Light is going to try and ride the fence as long as possible… they don’t want to piss off or alienate any group of consumers, but it sounds like that’s exactly what they did… piss off both sides.
We’ll see…
