Bud Light’s VP of Marketing is taking a leave of absence following the Dylan Mulvaney fiasco that has so far cost the company $6 billion in market value.
Alissa Heinerscheid, the woman behind the brilliant decision to put a transgender woman on a Bud Light can and pay him to sit in a bathtub peddling beer, has reportedly been booted, at least temporarily, by the company and replaced with Todd Allen, vice president of global marketing for Budweiser. This would be the same woman, you may recall, who, in a video filmed before the Mulvaney partnership rollout, touted her desire for a more “inclusive” and less “fratty” image for the iconic beer brand, which has largely been marketed to men of a less…shall we say…sparkly persuasion.
“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 at the time.
But while Heinersheid’s push to market the beer to more women was fairly successful, it turns out most Bud Light drinkers don’t want to see a grown man dressed in little girl clothes sitting in a pile of bubbles telling them to go buy another 6-pack. The move has cost the company millions in the past three weeks alone, with Bud Light distributors across the country saying they’re having a hard time moving product. The ill-conceived marketing campaign led to at least half a dozen right-leaning personalities, many of them country stars, to publicly blast Bud Light for putting the trans agenda ahead of what most of their most loyal customers want.
Related: Bud Light Releases New Pro-America Ad As Stock Nosedives Following Dylan Mulvaney Fiasco
Bud Light has since tried to smooth things over with irate consumers, releasing a vague and meaningless statement before rolling out a new America-themed ad featuring flags being run up poles and bearded men sharing a beer on the front porch of a country house.
Whether the fallout for Anhueser-Busch becomes a permanent blow remains to be seen – but it looks like “go woke, go broke” still rings true…at least for the brainchild behind this bizarre marketing move.