Bud Light – American Conservative Movement https://americanconservativemovement.com American exceptionalism isn't dead. It just needs to be embraced. Wed, 20 Nov 2024 11:09:36 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.6.2 https://americanconservativemovement.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/cropped-America-First-Favicon-32x32.png Bud Light – American Conservative Movement https://americanconservativemovement.com 32 32 135597105 Jaguar Attempts to “Bud Light” Itself With Cringeworthy Woke Ad https://americanconservativemovement.com/jaguar-attempts-to-bud-light-itself-with-cringeworthy-woke-ad/ https://americanconservativemovement.com/jaguar-attempts-to-bud-light-itself-with-cringeworthy-woke-ad/#respond Wed, 20 Nov 2024 11:09:36 +0000 https://americanconservativemovement.com/jaguar-attempts-to-bud-light-itself-with-cringeworthy-woke-ad/ (ZeroHedge)—British sports car manufacturer Jaguar, one of the most celebrated motorsport brands, first gained prominence in the 1950s with its iconic C-Type and D-Type sports cars, securing seven victories at the prestigious 24 Hours of Le Mans. Jag launched the iconic E-Type at the 1961 Geneva Motor Show and has since produced stylish vehicles for the general public and racing teams.

Given Jaguar’s legacy of racing excellence, their marketing team has just nuked the brand in a manner reminiscent of Bud Light’s controversial ad featuring Dylan Mulvaney, a man who identifies as a woman.

Jag’s new ad, published on X on Tuesday morning, is titled “Copy nothing.”

Yet it looks like their marketing team copied a scene from the movie Zoolander.

The X post was heavily ratio’d, and many people were utterly baffled by how tone-deaf Jaguar’s marketing team has become in an era increasingly shifting away from toxic woke ideology.

“Umm where are the cars in this ad? Is this for fashion?” X user Pixel Prett asked.

Jag’s social media team responded: “Think of this as a declaration of intent.”

Someone else asked Jag: “To go bankrupt? Got it.”

Not one vehicle was shown in the ad. Yet wokeism culture was pushed into overdrive.

Bring back the 1990s, please.

We all have the same question. Maybe Jag is trying to boost its DEI score for year-end purposes…

Jag’s inability to read the room as the wokeism tide in corporate America goes out is troubling for the brand…

Earlier this year, Subha Barry, former head of diversity at Merrill Lynch, told Bloomberg, “We are past the peak” of wokeism.

To sum up, this isn’t the first time Jag has had tranny issues.

Good luck.

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Bud Light Is Just a Good Start — Companies Need to Fear Us More Than They Fear the Left https://americanconservativemovement.com/bud-light-is-just-a-good-start-companies-need-to-fear-us-more-than-they-fear-the-left/ https://americanconservativemovement.com/bud-light-is-just-a-good-start-companies-need-to-fear-us-more-than-they-fear-the-left/#respond Mon, 03 Jul 2023 04:55:36 +0000 https://americanconservativemovement.com/?p=194297 A right-leaning friend (I call him a “Fox News Republicans”) recently asked me on Twitter if we’d gone too far with our attacks on Anheuser-Busch. His argument was logical, asking, “There are companies that do far more damage through Cultural Marxism than just taking on a transgender spokesperson or sponsoring pride parades, so why do they get a pass?”

He used as his example the story below about 645 employees of glass plants losing their jobs because their biggest customer was Anheuser-Busch and business is tanking.

“Should we move on to someone else?” he continued. “Redirect our efforts towards more worthy targets? Ease off on Bud Light to demonstrate forgiveness over a minor transgression compared to more egregious wokeness by other companies?”

Again, all of these questions/arguments are logical. They’re also wrong.

As unfortunate as it is that there are hundreds of employees of a company that lost their jobs because of our push against Anheuser-Busch, now is not the time to ease up. The pressure must be kept on Anheuser-Busch for two reasons. First, they haven’t actually learned their lesson as they continue to support wokeness with or without Dylan Mulvaney. Second and more importantly, the company’s ongoing pain is sending a message to other companies to tread lightly on woke issues. That’s a start. They need to be made to fear us more than they fear leftists.

The left has been able to take over much of corporate America’s mindset through fear. Radical activists have put tremendous efforts into bullying campaigns that harm businesses who aren’t woke enough. Granted, these efforts are heavily funded by people like George Soros and Mike Bloomberg, but that’s no excuse for the right’s inability to match them. We have the numbers. They have the billionaires and the radicals. We need to use our strengths, just as we’ve done with Bud Light.

Rather than give Anheuser-Busch a reprieve, we need to put the same efforts toward boycotts of other companies and organizations. It bugs me when I see conservatives on social media lambasting the radical messaging coming out of Hollywood, for example, then posting their thoughts about the latest Marvel movie they just paid to watch in theaters or on Netflix.

We’ve seen minor changes at one of the wokest companies in the world, Disney, as a result of some pressure. That pressure needs to be a full-blown boycott by anyone who loves America. The message needs to be that any movie or show they put out is going to bomb horribly. We don’t need to wait until it’s declared that the latest movie or show is woke. Just boycott them. And it’s not just a message to them. It’s a message to their investors.

But even boycotting is not enough. The left hasn’t found success by simply avoiding not-woke-enough companies. Their success is in the way they organize protests, send letters, make phone calls, and otherwise make news about their cause. By no means am I suggesting we should glue our hands to paintings in museums like the climate change cultists. That’s just dumb. But we should be applying far more pressure on those around us to join in boycotting and protesting woke companies.

We need to be activists in our own ways.

For some, activism can be as bold as changing our lives to benefit the cause. Missionaries are the original religious activists, following in the footsteps of the Apostles, who were willing to make bold changes in order to spread the Gospel. That’s the type of dedication we need from some if we’re going to make the right changes.

For others, activism can be as simple as boycotting loudly. Not shopping at Target is a start, but if losing your business is all you make them feel, it’s just a drop in the ocean. We need to  not only boycott companies like Target but tell others they should do the same. We’ve all seen leftists wearing ludicrous T-shirts declaring their cause du jour. We should act similarly, either literally or figuratively, by spreading the word about companies whose actions we need corrected.

I’m not offering solutions. I’m just prompting thoughts. There are others out there who have the skills and resources to properly organize the types of actions we need. I’m just a guy behind a keyboard who no longer watches movies and never orders Chipotle. But I am hopeful that patriotic Americans can learn the lesson from what’s happening to Bud Light and come to the conclusion that we need to double our efforts, not back down. Here’s the article about the “Casualties of Wokeism” from Discern Reporter:

Casualties of Wokeism: Glass Bottling Plants Forced to Shut Down Over Bud Light Debacle

Anheuser-Busch’s botched promotion featuring transgender influencer Dylan Mulvaney has led to the closure of two glass bottling plants operated by Ardagh Group, a global glass producer and contractor for the company. As Bud Light continues to face significant financial losses and declining sales, approximately 645 employees will be laid off as a result of the plant closures in North Carolina and Louisiana, according to WRAL.

While the bottling company did not officially disclose the reason behind the closures, an investigation by WRAL revealed that the plants are shutting down due to plummeting Bud Light sales. Nationwide boycotts in response to the controversial Bud Light partnership with Mulvaney, known as “365 Days of Girlhood,” have adversely affected retailers, distributors, bars, and contracted companies associated with the brand.

Workers at the affected bottling plants reportedly observed a decrease in production after Mulvaney’s video announcement of the collaboration on social media gained attention in April. The impact of the boycott resulted in some machines being taken offline at the Louisiana and North Carolina plants, as noted by a machine repair mechanic interviewed by WRAL, who attributed it to “the Bud Light situation.”

An internal memo from Ardagh Group obtained by WRAL stated that the decision to close the two plants was due to slow sales with Anheuser-InBev. Longtime employees expressed little surprise at the closures, given that a significant portion of their business at those plants involved producing bottles for Budweiser and Bud Light.

Employees at the Wilson, North Carolina plant reportedly confirmed that their manager attributed the closure to the Bud Light boycott, with David Williams, a machine repair mechanic, stating, “‘Because of Budweiser no longer selling the bottle, they no longer needed our product.'”

Since the controversial promotion featuring Mulvaney and the subsequent backlash, Bud Light sales have suffered a decline that shows no signs of recovery. The brand has experienced substantial losses in market value and has taken various measures to mitigate the fallout. These steps include significant beer discounts, consumer rebates that make Bud Light practically free in certain markets, support for distributors, increased marketing efforts, a new summer ad campaign, and CEO Brendan Whitworth’s appearance on “CBS Mornings” to address the situation.

Despite these efforts, the negative sentiment surrounding the Bud Light brand persists, resulting in ongoing sales slides. NielsenIQ data provided to FOX Business by Bump Williams Consulting revealed that Bud Light sales were down 24.4% compared to the previous year for the week ending June 3. During the same period, Modelo Especial surpassed Bud Light as the top-selling beer brand on a dollar basis.

Mulvaney recently criticized the controversy surrounding Bud Light, highlighting the increased bullying and transphobia faced as a consequence. The transgender influencer also expressed disappointment with the lack of support from the company while dealing with transphobic incidents.

Sound off about this story on my Substack.

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Aware It’s Losing Culture Wars, Left Tries a New Tactic https://americanconservativemovement.com/aware-its-losing-culture-wars-left-tries-a-new-tactic/ https://americanconservativemovement.com/aware-its-losing-culture-wars-left-tries-a-new-tactic/#respond Fri, 16 Jun 2023 23:57:03 +0000 https://americanconservativemovement.com/?p=193649 If you can’t get your way through popular opinion, it’s time to use governmental force to intimidate.

New York Attorney General Letitia James is apparently not a fan of Target shifting its position on its “Pride Month” merchandise—which included a “tuck-friendly” swimsuit for men who want to wear women’s suits, an LGBT-themed onesie, and items designed by a company known for its “Satan Respects Pronouns” pin.

In a move that would generally elicit frantic cries about the end of democracy, James, a Democrat, has decided that she and other elected officials, not Target’s customers or employees, should decide the retail giant’s marketing strategy.

“Target’s decision to pull some of its pride merchandise because of backlash from anti-LGBTQ+ customers is wrong,” tweeted James on Wednesday.

“Hatred and bigotry can’t win: New York elected officials and I are urging @Target to reverse its decision and stand up for #LGTBQ+ rights,” she added, saying that she and other elected officials had sent a letter.

How is this James’ or other New York elected officials’ business?

Before you bring up Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ war with Disney, remember this: Disney started that by speaking out against the Parental Rights in Education bill, legislation that had the audacity to limit what could be said about sexual orientation or gender identity among kids in kindergarten through third grade.

Target, as far as I know, has taken no positions on New York legislation. Nor did James cite any examples in her tweets.

No, this is just straight-up a politician trying to intimidate a private business because that private business isn’t acting the way the politician prefers.

And by using her government Twitter account and citing a letter signed by her and other “elected officials,” James is making no pretense of acting as a private citizen. No, she’s talking as one of the most powerful people in one of the most influential states in the U.S.

She’s also taking a move straight from the playbook of California Gov. Gavin Newsom, who tweeted earlier this year that “California won’t be doing business with @walgreens” after Walgreens announced it wouldn’t sell abortifacient drugs in some states.

Three months later, Newsom’s threat appeared to be mostly bluster. California has now reportedly allowed Walgreens to bid for a major contract again. The state also continues to let Medicaid patients use Walgreens. (But don’t think Newsom had a change of heart. Apparently, it’s likely illegal to ban Medicaid patients from Walgreens.)

Walgreens’ move, mind you, came when 21 states’ attorney generals announced they didn’t think it was legal for pharmacy chains to sell abortifacient drugs in their states.

Still, though, Newsom clearly tried to use California’s economic muscle to force pharmacies in red states to uphold blue state’ values.

Again, democracy is not in fashion when it comes to people who don’t hold the “right” views.

That brings us to the real reason James (likely) is taking this completely inappropriate step: The Left is suddenly in real danger of losing the culture war.

Sure, leftists may have forced same-sex marriage on all 50 states in a 2015 Supreme Court decision that went against the votes of 31 states’ residents. Yes, they might be manipulating laws and regulations to promote the trans agenda, even at the expense of women’s safety and privacy. And yes, they may have captured the boardrooms, Big Tech, the universities, Hollywood, and so many more institutions.

But as the Bud Light boycott and the Target backlash shows, people are beginning to wake up—and realize they’re not alone.

In fact, there are a lot of Americans who have an issue with a man who “identifies” as a woman promoting womanhood. There are a lot of Americans who think that they shouldn’t have to explain to their kids when running errands what a “tuck-friendly” swimsuit is. There are a lot of Americans who think that teen girls shouldn’t have to risk their safety and compete against teen boys in girls’ sports, just because the boys want to say they’re now girls.

Bud Light is no longer the top-selling beer in the country. (Congratulations to Modelo Especial, which took the crown.) “Bud Light sales have been roughly 25% lower year-over-year in every single week since it partnered with transgender influencer Dylan Mulvaney for an Instagram post in early April,” reports CNN. Things are so dire that Bud Light is planning to “provide financial assistance to its wholesalers” and “reimburse fuel for distributors’ trucks,” CNN also reported.

Meanwhile, Target’s stock was at its lowest price in three years Wednesday. It got dinged by Bank of America, which “lowered its price objective from $180 to $145 while saying the reduction is a response to weakened peer multiples, decelerating traffic, and modest mobile app engagement,” reported Fox Business.

Other companies are no doubt taking note.

That’s what leftists like AG James can’t stand.

The Left doesn’t just accept losses. Whether it’s through an activist Supreme Court, lawmaking by bureaucrats, or other moves, the Left is always trying to find some way—no matter how absurdly unconstitutional it is—to get its objectives through.

So, James is trying something new, and effectively saying to Target, “shame if anything happened to that nice business you got.” Even more amazingly, this comes at a time when Target is reportedly getting bomb threats from someone who “accused Target of betraying the LGBTQ+ community,” per The Washington Post.

For once in recent years, the Left is losing a battle in the culture war. But instead of doubling down on their arguments for their views and making the case democratically, they’re resorting to thuggish intimidation.

Article cross-posted from Daily Signal.

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Bartender Company CEO Reveals ‘Significant Shift’ That’s Hitting Bud Light https://americanconservativemovement.com/bartender-company-ceo-reveals-significant-shift-thats-hitting-bud-light/ https://americanconservativemovement.com/bartender-company-ceo-reveals-significant-shift-thats-hitting-bud-light/#comments Mon, 12 Jun 2023 10:22:31 +0000 https://americanconservativemovement.com/?p=193527 Demand for Bud Light has significantly declined in recent weeks in the midst of a boycott against the company for producing a can with a transgender influencer’s face on it, according to a mobile bartending company founder.

“There has been a ‘significant shift’ in consumer preferences,” Catarina Tucker, the founder of Barnastics, told Fox News. “Bud Light, once a popular option, is no longer capturing the attention or enthusiasm of event organizers and attendees.”

Barnastics, according to Tucker, allows customers to build a custom proposal, allowing them to see the demand for certain beverages. And, the data shows that demand for Bud Light “has plummeted completely,” she said, adding that “no one wants it at their event anymore.”

“There are a couple clients that have expressed to me their feelings behind it, and it’s no longer popular,” she remarked to the network.

About six weeks ago, transgender influencer Dylan Mulvaney revealed on social media that Bud Light produced a Mulvaney-themed commemorative Bud Light can, while Mulvaney claimed to be in a partnership with the light beer company. Boycott threats immediately followed, fueled by conservative commentators on Twitter.

Last month, the CEO of Anheuser-Busch, Michel Doukeris, said that just “one can” was produced with Mulvaney’s face and suggested that social media-driven “misinformation” and “confusion” was to blame.

The backlash has produced real consequences. In the month ending May 13, Bud Light’s U.S. sales were down 23 percent, according to Bump Williams Consulting. Target’s shares have plunged 20 percent since mid-May, wiping away $15 billion in market value, although that’s partly due to investor concerns about inflation’s impact on shoppers.

A report, citing industry data, found that a Bud Light competitor Modelo Especial is now the No. 1 selling beer. Within the United States, Modelo is owned by Constellation Brands. Outside the country, it is owned by Anheuser-Busch InBev, which also makes Bud Light.

Bill Newlands, the chief executive officer of Constellation Brands, told Newsweek that the four-week spike in sales had happened “quicker than we had anticipated.” “We thought that would take a little longer,” he continued to say. “We’ve been very fortunate that that’s gone a little quicker than we had anticipated. But what a great position to be in on the beer side.”

Other Boycotts?

Cracker Barrel

Restaurant chain Cracker Barrel now faces calls for a boycott after the company made social media posts celebrating “Pride Month” and promoting “diversity, equity, and inclusion” initiatives.

“We are excited to celebrate Pride Month with our employees and guests. Everyone is always welcome at our table (and our rainbow rocker). Happy Pride!” the company wrote in a post. It included a photo of chairs with an LGBT rainbow flag-like design.

The Texas Family Project, a political advocacy organization, posted photos of the restaurant’s diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) efforts that critics say are an attempt to force left-wing propaganda into the corporate world. Some, like authors Christopher Rufo and James Lindsay, assert that DEI is merely a Marxist-inspired attempt to implement “left-wing racialist ideology and partisan political activism.”

“We take no pleasure in reporting that @CrackerBarrel has fallen,” the Texas Family Project wrote on social media. “A once family friendly establishment has caved to the mob.”

Cracker Barrel, like many other major corporations, has a DEI section on its website that says “discrimination, overt or through unconscious bias, has no place” at the restaurant.

After critical posts were made against the restaurant chain, the company’s Twitter account responded that its employees take “pride in creating a welcoming, safe atmosphere.”

The criticism and calls for boycotts targeting Cracker Barrel come in the midst of ongoing backlash against Bud Light, Target, and several other major brands. Target last month confirmed that it removed some pro-LGBT merchandise from its shelves after people noted that the company is selling “pride” clothing and items for small children, including infants.

For June, a number of large corporations have attempted to cash in on so-called Pride Month by offering related merchandise to shoppers. Government agencies, too, have adopted the LGBT flag color scheme, while President Joe Biden on Saturday promoted a Pride Month event at the White House as some critics noted that the White House placed the updated LGBT flag—including the transgender colors—in the center of two American flags.

A large number of negative social media posts about Pride this year are attacking companies for sliding to the political left and accusing them of sexualizing or grooming children, according to RILA Global Consulting, which tracks more than 100 million websites and social media pages per day.

That’s an abrupt change from last year, when a majority of negative social media posts were focused on brands being “inauthentic” and not truly supporting the LGBT population even as they expanded their offerings, the consulting group claimed. In May and June of 2022, there were fewer than 400 posts calling for Pride-related boycotts, RILA said. This year, in May alone there were more than 15,000.

The Epoch Times has contacted Anhueser-Busch for comment.

The Associated Press contributed to this report. Article cross-posted from our premium news partners at The Epoch Times. Image by Mike Mozart via Flickr, CC BY 2.0.

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The ESG Empire Strikes Back Following Bud Light Boycott https://americanconservativemovement.com/the-esg-empire-strikes-back-following-bud-light-boycott/ https://americanconservativemovement.com/the-esg-empire-strikes-back-following-bud-light-boycott/#respond Fri, 02 Jun 2023 22:02:49 +0000 https://americanconservativemovement.com/?p=193199 The Wall Street Journal ran a deep dive article last week exploring “how Bud Light blew it,” but it somehow missed the most important part of the story.

As most people already know, the world’s most popular light lager has seen a collapse in sales following a boycott prompted by a March Madness ad campaign featuring transgender influencer Dylan Mulvaney. The Journal’s chart depicting the fall in Bud Light sales speaks for itself, and the company’s delayed and tepid response to the uproar only seemed to make matters worse.

This isn’t Anheuser-Busch’s first foray into controversial social issues.

The Journal’s Jennifer Maloney points out that the company has been engaging in social equity-themed advertising for years, including a 2021 Michelob Ultra ad featuring transgender track star Cecé Telfer and a 2022 Bud Light Canada campaign for Pride Month displaying various pronouns .

What Maloney fails to mention in her article is why beer companies — not just Bud Light — are suddenly courting controversial social issues such as nonbinary gender, transgenderism, and third-wave feminism.

The answer is simple: The rise of environmental, social, and corporate governance as the dominant strain of “stakeholder capitalism” has incentivized corporations to curry favor with ESG rating firms , even if it means alienating their consumers.

Unlike traditional capitalism, which seeks to maximize profits by serving consumers, the ESG model seeks to “improve” capitalism by considering other stakeholders besides investors and consumers. Publicly traded corporations are graded on how well they achieve socially desirable metrics, such as combating climate change, advancing diversity and inclusion, and creating a more “equitable” society.

What was intended to be a kinder, gentler form of capitalism has morphed into a kind of economic fascism that places the arbitrary interests of a small cabal of people — asset managers, bureaucrats, global financiers — ahead of consumers.

As the Austrian economist Ludwig von Mises pointed out , consumers are the true bosses in a capitalist system. They ultimately decide what products are created and purchased, who becomes wealthy, and who becomes poor.

As the Bud Light fiasco shows, ESG places consumers in the back seat. The social equity campaigns are not designed to appeal to Bud Light consumers, but to the ESG rating agencies, which have the power to downgrade companies that fail to dance to their tune.

This is a great deal for the ESG puppeteers. They can make multi-billion corporations move by the mere threat of a bad score, which gives them immense economic and political power.

Elon Musk found this out when Tesla was kicked off the S&P 500 ESG Index in May 2022, even though Tesla is an icon of sustainability. By January, Tesla’s stock, which had been trading at $248 a share, had fallen by roughly 55%.

To what extent Tesla’s collapse in share price stemmed from the company getting booted from the index is unclear, but the point is mostly moot. What matters is the threat of being singled out for an ESG transgression.

What few people seem to realize is that Bud Light’s collapse in sales is not just a threat to Anheuser-Busch. It’s a threat to the entire ESG model.

Up until this point, ESG has thrived because the perceived costs of not participating outweighed the costs of participating. Bud Light’s implosion stands to change that perception, which is precisely why the ESG overlords are striking back.

On Friday, USA Today published a leaked letter showing the Human Rights Campaign had informed Anheuser-Busch “that it has suspended its Corporate Equality Index score — a tool that scores companies on their policies for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer employees.”

“Anheuser-Busch had a key moment to really stand up and demonstrate the importance of their values of diversity, equity, and inclusion and their response really fell short,” said Eric Bloem, HRC’s senior director.

One can almost feel bad for Bud Light. The brand is caught in the middle of a larger war being fought by global anti-capitalists and the bosses of capitalism: consumers. Publicly traded companies should be allowed to go back to serving their real bosses — consumers — which is why the rotten ESG model should be dismantled.

Jon Miltimore
Jon Miltimore

Jonathan Miltimore is the Managing Editor of FEE.org. (Follow him on Substack.)

His writing/reporting has been the subject of articles in TIME magazine, The Wall Street Journal, CNN, Forbes, Fox News, and the Star Tribune.

Bylines: Newsweek, The Washington Times, MSN.com, The Washington Examiner, The Daily Caller, The Federalist, the Epoch Times.

This article was originally published on FEE.org. Read the original article.

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Bud Light Sales Decline for 6th Consecutive Week Amid Mulvaney Boycott https://americanconservativemovement.com/bud-light-sales-decline-for-6th-consecutive-week-amid-mulvaney-boycott/ https://americanconservativemovement.com/bud-light-sales-decline-for-6th-consecutive-week-amid-mulvaney-boycott/#comments Tue, 23 May 2023 00:17:23 +0000 https://americanconservativemovement.com/?p=192866 New industry data show that sales of Bud Light have declined for another week amid the controversy over the company’s decision to engage in a social media campaign with transgender influencer and activist Dylan Mulvaney.

In the week starting on May 8, U.S. retail sales decreased by 28 percent compared with the same period a year ago, according to an analysis of Nielsen data by consulting company Bump Williams. That’s an even bigger slide than the 23.6 percent plunge in sales for the week ending May 6, compared with the same week a year ago.

Bud Light’s competitors have seen increases in sales during the same time period. Sales of Coors Light increased by 17 percent, and Miller Lite sales increased by 15 percent during the second week of May, the data show.

In early April, the controversy erupted when Mulvaney, a biological male, posted a personalized Bud Light can and wrote “#BudLightPartner” on multiple social media accounts, drawing confusion along with calls for a boycott of the brand. Some country music singers indicated they would cut ties with the product, and some industry analysts suggested that Anheuser-Busch was seemingly choosing to alienate its customer base by partnering with Mulvaney.

Amid the sales decline, some local distributors have attempted to take action to bring back sales of Bud Light and other Anheuser-Busch products. For instance, the Alabama-based Bama Budweiser distributor released an advertisement that sought to distance itself and Bud Light from the Mulvaney social media posts.

“We too at Bama Budweiser are upset about it and have made our feelings known to the top leadership at Anheuser-Busch,” Steve Tatum, with Bama Budweiser, said in the ad, according to multiple news reports. “The voice of the consumer has been heard, and Anheuser-Busch has taken action.”

The ad also stated: “Mulvaney is not under contract with Bud Light. The videos you may have seen are Mulvaney’s own social media posts that went viral, and many web-based news outlets have distorted the story.” It didn’t elaborate on the distortions.

“You deserve to know the truth, and life is too short to let a couple of individuals decide what you can eat or drink or spend your hard-earned money on. And remember, making friends is our business, not enemies,” the ad said.

Tatum told AL.com that he’s received positive feedback for his ad campaign. However, he said there has been no response from Anheuser-Busch or Bud Light corporate officials. “I’m just trying to look after Bama Budweiser,” he said. “I’ve worked too hard to give it all away.”

Other Changes

Two Bud Light marketing executives, Alissa Heinerscheid and Daniel Blake, were placed on leave, according to the company. Anhueser-Busch told a St. Louis-based news organization last week that Heinerscheid would be replaced by Todd Allen, who recently served as Budweiser’s global marketing vice president.

“Given the circumstances, Alissa has decided to take a leave of absence, which we support,” an Anheuser-Busch spokesperson said in a statement at the time. “Daniel has also decided to take a leave of absence.”

On April 14, two weeks after Mulvaney’s post, Anheuser-Busch U.S. CEO Brendan Whitworth posted a statement stating that the company never “intended to be part of a discussion that divides people,” although the statement didn’t mention Mulvaney or the boycott. “We are in the business of bringing people together over a beer.”

Weeks later, the CEO of Anheuser-Busch InBev, Michel Doukeris, told the Financial Times that the Mulvaney situation was not an official partnership and that one can was produced with Mulvaney’s face, in a bid to distance the brand from the controversy.

Doukeris added that there was “misinformation and confusion” that circulated online that included a Bud Light can with Mulvaney’s likeness on it. He added said that it was “never intended … for general production and sale for the public.”

During an earnings call earlier this month, Doukeris said that Anheuser-Busch would triple its investment into Bud Light over the next summer and that the firm would provide “direct financial support” to affected front-line workers such as distribution workers and truck drivers. The decline in Bud Light sales also represents about 1 percent of the company’s overall global volume, he said.

Robert Lachky, the former chief creative officer at Anheuser-Busch, told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch in a recent interview that the Mulvaney Bud Light can was a significant marketing mistake. Corporate executives, he added, appear to be out of touch with the beer’s consumer base.

“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,” he said. “In the end, people don’t like getting preached to, especially when it comes to drinking beer.”

“None of these marketing folks has ever been to a NASCAR race, none has been to a football game or a rodeo,” Lachky noted. “That’s insanity. That’s marketing incompetence.”

Article cross-posted from our premium news partners at The Epoch Times.

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REPLACED: Bud Light Marketing VP Behind Brand’s Transvestite Embrace Put on Leave of Absence https://americanconservativemovement.com/replaced-bud-light-marketing-vp-behind-brands-transvestite-embrace-put-on-leave-of-absence/ https://americanconservativemovement.com/replaced-bud-light-marketing-vp-behind-brands-transvestite-embrace-put-on-leave-of-absence/#respond Sat, 22 Apr 2023 03:15:55 +0000 https://americanconservativemovement.com/?p=191925 Going woke doesn’t work for everyone in business. Increasingly, it seems to be the dragon slayer in corporate America as brands start questioning the efficacy of alienating half of the country. Anheuser-Busch is learning that lesson and spreading the love to their embattled former Bud Light Marketing VP, Alissa Heinerscheid.

After the frat-hating executive put transvestite Dylan Mulvaney on the icon cans, the backlash has been devastating. Now, she has been put on a leave of absence and replaced by a senior VP. According to AdAge:

Alissa Heinerscheid, marketing VP for the brand since June 2022, has taken a leave of absence, the brewer confirmed, and will be replaced by Todd Allen, who was most recently global marketing VP for Budweiser.

Heinerscheid did not immediately respond to an email requesting comment.

The brewer has also streamlined its marketing function to reduce layers “so that our most senior marketers are more closely connected to every aspect of our brand’s activities,” a company spokesperson said in a statement, adding that “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.”

The Post Millennial reported:

In an interview on the Make Yourself At Home podcast from March 23rd, Heinerscheid revealed that the brand was in decline and they needed to “attract young drinkers… then there will be no Bud Light,” which led to the controversial partnership with trans TikToker Dylan Mulvaney.

Heinerscheid also recently suggested that the brand she represents should distance itself from its “fratty” past, despite having participated in frat culture herself as a young woman.

Don’t say it… don’t say it… fine, I’ll say it. Get woke, go broke. Ugh. I hate the phrase because it’s become so cliché it has lost all meaning but it has never fit more perfectly than with Bud Light.

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