They have Anheuser-Busch bowing and scraping
In a new bid to steady his rattled company, Anheuser-Busch U.S. CEO Brendan Whitworth vowed to protect the jobs of employees and those of independent wholesalers.
Why it matters: With conservatives in revolt over Bud Light’s courting of a transgender influencer, Whitworth’s statement is an effort to fight back and regain market share.
Axios has learned that Whitworth plans to go on the road around the U.S. this summer to listen to consumers, in connection with Budweiser’s MLB sponsorship.
The company’s summer ad campaign, which begins next week, will portray Bud Light as “easy to drink and easy to enjoy,” he added in the statement Thursday.
By the numbers: Sales of Bud Light, a new top target in the culture wars, are off as much as 25%.
After the right savaged Bud Light for its relationship with transgender influencer Dylan Mulvaney, sales dropped so sharply that data out this week shows Mexican lager Modelo replacing Bud Light as America’s best-selling beer.
Between the lines: Whitworth’s latest statement stopped short of the apology that conservatives want. But that could alienate the consumers who have stuck with the brand.
“We recognize that over the last two months, the discussion surrounding our company and Bud Light has moved away from beer,” the statement says. “We are a beer company, and beer is for everyone.”
He must realize that he must not only apologize for ever allowing a trans influencer to hawk his beer on social media, he must denounce all transgender people, call out “groomers and PRIDE month and dedicate the company to rooting out all LGBTQ people, diversity and equity employees and anyone who even thinks of saying they support gay rights. And that’s just for starters.
They will very likely get back all those Bud-Light drinkers in due course in any case. But no amount of groveling will lure them back right now. They are wallowing in their hate and they are loving it.
By the way, you have to love it that a Mexican lager is taking up the slack. Lol!!!