According to BeerBoard, a technology company that provides data to the beverage industry, Bud Light has experienced a significant decline in sales at restaurants and bars across the U.S. after partnering with transgender influencer Dylan Mulvaney, who has been surrounded by controversy.
Approximately 3,000 locations that use BeerBoard’s technology logged 6% less Bud Light sales from April 2 to April 15 after calls for boycotts against the company. This backfire came just after the partnership announcement on April 1, as many high-profile conservatives signaled they were done with the brand.
As per NielsenIQ and Bump Williams Consulting’s data, the week after the announcement saw an 11% reduction in sales, and the following week witnessed a 21% decrease in volume. The Wall Street Journal reported that Dr. Daniel Blake, the head of marketing for Anheuser-Busch’s main brands, and Alissa Heinerscheid, Bud Light’s vice president of marketing, were both placed on leave due to the incident.
Alissa Heinerscheid, Bud Light’s VP of Marketing, doubles down on her extreme woke strategy to promote the “declining” American beer brand to “young people”, while smearing her former customers as “fratty and out of touch”.
How’s that working out for you, lady? @budlight pic.twitter.com/zNYKbMnZnu
— Old Row (@OldRowOfficial) April 9, 2023
“Given the circumstances, Alissa has decided to take a leave of absence which we support,” said an Anheuser-Busch spokeswoman in an email. An internal adjustment is being made to ensure that “senior staff are fully connected to decisions about brand activities,” according to sources.
In a recent podcast, video clips came to light of Heinerscheid’s remarks in which she stated her objective to change Bud Light’s image. “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,'” said Heinerscheid.
