Bud Light’s controversial marketing deal with transgender social media influencer Dylan Mulvaney has ignited speculation that top executives at corporate parent Anheuser-Busch may have been blindsided by the tie-up when it was revealed.
“No one at a senior level was aware this was happening,” an unnamed source told the Daily Wire, a conservative-leaning news site.
Marketing executives at Bud’s parent, Anheuser-Busch InBev, have allegedly “paused” additional campaigns so they can implement a more “robust” vetting process for future projects, according to the report.
The accuracy of the report — which comes despite the fact that Bud Light has publicly stood behind its partnership with Mulvaney — couldn’t immediately be confirmed.
The Post has sought comment from Anheuser-Busch.
“Some low-level marketing staffer who helps manage the hundreds of influencer engagements they do must have thought it was no big deal,” according to an unnamed source cited by the Daily Wire.
“Obviously it was, and it’s a shame because they have a well-earned reputation for just being America’s beer — not a political company.”
The Daily Wire also cited a tweet from conservative influencer Rogan O’Handley, who claimed to have spoken to sources who said that C-suite executives inside the company were “angered” over the marketing deal with Mulvaney.
Alissa Heinerscheid, the vice president of marketing, told the “Make Yourself at Home” podcast last week that she wanted to transform Bud Light’s brand.
“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.
She also condemned the company’s previous branding, saying: “We had this hangover, I mean Bud Light had been kind of a brand of fratty, kind of out-of-touch humor, and it was really important that we had another approach.”
