The vice president of marketing at Bud Light, who recently said the company needs to update its “fratty” image and “out-of-touch humor,” can be seen partaking in the same behavior she seemed to be criticizing during a Harvard social club event, recently leaked images show.
The Daily Caller obtained the photos from a source who had screenshots of the album on Alissa Gordon Heinerscheid’s Facebook page, which was titled “Isis Senior Reverse Initiation Scavenger Hunt.” In the album, there are photos of Heinerscheid drinking with others, and holding condoms up to their mouths. An article in the Harvard Crimson describes the club as a “haven of inebriated ditzes.”
Bud Light’s marketing has been criticized in recent days. In late March, Heinerscheid appeared on a podcast, where she promotes Bud Light’s new direction and marketing and said the company needed to update its “fratty” image and change its “out of touch humor.”
During the March 23 “Make Yourself at Home” podcast, Heinerscheid said, “I am a businesswoman. I had a really clear job to do when I took over Bud Light, it was — this brand is in decline. It has been in decline for a very long time. And if we do not attract young drinkers to come and drink this brand, there will be no future for Bud Light.”
She also said, “representation is at sort of the heart of evolution. You’ve got to see people who reflect you in the work. And 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.”
Bud Light and Heinerscheid also faced criticism after transgender TikTok star Dylan Mulvaney showed off a beer can with the influencer’s face on it. They also released a can with a rainbow that states “celebrate everyone’s identity,” and features different pronouns.
Anheuser-Busch also announced a “diversity & inclusion pillar” in 2019 that provides “unconscious bias training” and seeks to “attract diverse talent.”
Since Mulvaney’s video and Heinerscheid’s went viral, industry experts told the New York Post that Bud Light could seriously be in trouble.
“This boycott seems to have more legs than most,” Justin Kendall, editor of beer industry trade publication Brewbound, told The Post. “It started out as a conversation on social media and has breached into mainstream media.”
The Isis Club “was established in the year 2000 on Harvard University’s campus by agroup of 25 women. The founding meeting took place in the former Loker Commons, and set a foundation for community we have today. Their mission was to provide a positive environment and social network for women to flourish,” an Isis Club new initiate’s book states.
“Before the existence of female social clubs on campus, women’s options for socializing were extremely limited compared to that of their male counterparts. From its very inception, the Isis Club has represented a unique character and personality. With women of diverse backgrounds and interests, Isis women are united together by an undeniable spirit of compassion, fun, and drive. Ever since the first group of punches were inducted in 2002 in the Bel Tower of Lowel House, the Isis Club continues to fulfill its mission of providing and safe social space for women. The Isis legacy is a strong and positive one, which the club knows will be carried on by the many amazing women that are proud to call the Isis Club their own,” the book continues.
