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Bud Light's marketing executive 'can't talk' about the controversial
decision to use transgender influencer Dylan Mulvaney in an advertisement
for the brand.

Vice President Alissa Heinerscheid took a leave of absence earlier this
year following the controversy around the brewing giant's decision to use Mulvaney, 26, for the March Madness campaign.

Heinerscheid, 39, was not the only one to step down after the backlash
which created the biggest corporate disaster in a decade – as the VP for Mainstream Brands, Daniel Blake, also removed himself from his role.

But their sudden departure appears premature after bosses said the
decision to work with Mulvaney was made by an 'outside agency without management awareness or approval.'

When approached by DailyMail.com regarding claims that she had no idea of
the campaign, Heinerscheid declined to comment – but a friend said: 'she's
not supposed to talk about it, she can't', before being whisked away.

It is unclear if Heinerscheid, who was seen close to her $8million
apartment near Central Park, is on paid leave from the company, but she
joined in 2022 and vowed to freshen up its image.

On March 30, Heinerscheid gave an interview to a business podcast in which
she said she wanted to make Bud Light less 'fratty' and more 'inclusive'.

Two days later, on April 1, Mulvaney - who began transitioning to a woman
in 2021 - was unveiled as a brand partner.

The firm said both Heinerscheid and Blake 'decided' to temporarily step
down, but their decisions were reportedly not voluntary.

'Given the circumstances, Alissa has decided to take a leave of absence
which we support. Daniel has also decided to take a leave of absence,' the company said.

Heinerscheid's job was taken over by Todd Allen, who recently served as
global vice president of Budweiser.

The specifics of how the can fiasco erupted remain under wraps, though the boycott continues to affect sales and market value of the tarnished brand.

Since the post by Mulvaney went live on her Instagram on April 1, Anheuser-Busch has tanked more than $26 billion in market value.

The company has been forced to give 'financial help' to the frontline
workers impacted by the boycott, according to a statement made by global
CEO Michel Doukeris.

Sales of Bud Light have also plummeted 25.7 percent for the week ending
May 20 – compared to that of a year ago, according to Bump Williams
Consulting .

It is the steepest drop in sales since the Mulvaney controversy, with Bud
Light dropping 24.3 percent from April 1 to May 20.

Anheuser-Busch said earlier this month it would triple its marketing
spending in the US this summer as it tries to boost ailing sales.

The marketing decision appears to be one of the worst in American history
to come from an advertising backlash.

Only J.C. Penney has beaten Anheuser-Bush and saw their shares plummet
more than 25 per cent in 2012 after featuring a lesbian couple and their daughter in an advertisement.

They also hired Ellen DeGeneres as a spokesperson and ultimately fired
their then-CEO Ron Johnsons, who defended the move.

It comes as the nearest rival to Bud Light – which is currently still the top-selling US beer – is close to toppling them for the top spot.

Modelo Especial saw sales jump 9.2 per cent, with experts predicting that
the brand would surpass Bud Light for the year if the numbers continue the
way that they are.

Modelo was the number two beer in the US last year, posting $3.8 billion
in off-premises sales, compared to $4.8 billion for Bud Light, according
to Bump Williams data.

Both Bud Light and Modelo are owned by Anheuser-Busch's parent company AB InBev.

But as part of an anti-trust settlement, US sales of Modelo are controlled
by rival Constellation Group and do not count as part of AB InBev's global volumes.

Since April 1, the company has consistently been dropping down the
rankings, with experts saying it 'just keeps getting a little worse each
week'.

But their competitors have added $3.2billion in market value to their
brands in the same time.

Molson Coors, which owns Coors Lite, has seen an increase of $2.2billion
market value, around 20 percent, while Heineken has a spike of $1billion –
an increase of 1.7 percent.

Many conservative famous faces swiftly dropped Bud Light after they linked
up with Mulvaney, with Kid Rock shooting at several cases of the beer and saying 'f*** Bud Light, and f*** Anheuser-Busch. Have a terrific day.'

Her posts saw musician Kid Rock pull the beers from his bar, and country singers John Rich and Travis Tritt both publicly denouncing the band.

Analysts at HSBC even downgraded Anheuser-Busch's stock because it is in
the midst of a 'crisis' over the marketing blunder.

Carlos Laboy, a managing director at HSBC's global beverage sector,
downgraded the stock of Anheuser-Busch InBev to a hold status. It means
that investors should not buy or sell shares of the company.

He said that the backlash is a sign there are 'deeper problems than ABI admits', questioning if it was 'hiring the best people to grow the brands
and gauge risk.'

After Anheuser-Busch tried to distance itself from the Mulvaney promotion,
Bud Light also faced backlash from the opposite direction, with pro-LGBTQ groups accusing the company of abandoning the transgender influencer.

Still, Anheuser-Busch InBev CEO Michel Doukeris has downplayed the impact
of the backlash, saying Bud Light's US sales declines in the first three
weeks of April represented only 1 percent of InBev's global volumes.

'We believe we have the experience, the resources and the partners to
manage this,' Doukeris said during a conference call with investors
earlier this month.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-12145405/Bud-Light-marketing-VP- disastrous-Dylan-Mulvaney-tie-talk-controversy.html

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