CEO Says 'We Hear You' As Bud Light Loses No. 1 Spot
Anheuser-Busch's US CEO outlined steps the brand is taking to alleviate Bud Light backlash.
The brand angered some conservatives since partnering with a transgender influencer for a promotion.
This week, Bud Light lost its title as the best-selling beer brand in the US.
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The US CEO of Bud Light's owner, Anheuser-Busch, released a statement outlining steps the company is taking to alleviate backlash the brand has faced over the last two months since a single promotion with a transgender influencer.
"Over the last two months, the discussion surrounding our company and Bud Light has moved away from beer, and this has impacted our consumers, our business partners, and our employees," Brendan Whitworth wrote in the statement.
To alleviate the impacts Anheuser-Busch's employees and business partners have faced, Whitworth said the company will provide financial assistance to the beer brand's independent wholesalers that would support their employees.
Whitworth also directly addressed Bud Light's customers: "We hear you. Our summer advertising launches next week, and you can look forward to Bud Light reinforcing what you've always loved about our brand – that it's easy to drink and easy to enjoy."
The statement follows months-long backlash the Bud Light brand has faced from some conservatives since it partnered with transgender influencer Dylan Mulvaney on a promotion that featured a custom Bud Light beer can featuring Mulvaney's face, which was given to her but never sold in stores.
In the video, Mulvaney, 26, talked about a March Madness contest sponsored by Bud Light, and how she was celebrating her "day 365 of womanhood." She said the beer cans, including the one which featured a custom design of her face, had been sent to her from the brand to celebrate her one year of transitioning.
Since April 1, when Mulvaney posted the video, fallout from the backlash has plagued the brand: Bud Light executives have been placed on leave; employees and distributors have reported incidents of harassment from customers and lost sales; and the anti-LGBTQ+ backlash has spread to other brands.
A decline in Bud Light sales has persisted. Earlier this week, the Bud Light beer brand ceded its title as the best-selling beer brand in the US to Modelo Especial beer, after the beer brand's sales dropped by 23% in May, according to data compiled by consumer-behavior research firm Circana and shared with Insider.
Source: Business Insider
