ST. LOUIS — Anheuser-Busch is now telling retail customers that a recent controversy is just a tempest in a pint glass.
In a letter to wholesalers that was forwarded to some local bars and restaurants, the brewery addressed the backlash to a marketing campaign featuring transgender social-media influencer Dylan Mulvaney, which led to a steep decline in Bud Light sales over the last month.
“This was one single can given to one social media influencer,†the letter states. “It was not made for production or sale to the general public. This can is not a formal campaign or advertisement.â€
Mulvaney, 26, posted a video on TikTok showing a can of Bud Light with her face on it that was given to her to celebrate her 365th day of girlhood. The video also showed her sipping a beer as part of March Madness, and she joked that she did not know which sport she was promoting.
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A-B’s letter was forwarded to retailers, bars and restaurants by Grey Eagle, a Fenton-based company that distributes Anheuser-Busch products to a 14-county region around ºüÀêÊÓƵ. Grey Eagle does not distribute to the city of ºüÀêÊÓƵ, Jefferson County and parts of Washington and Iron counties.
Grey Eagle included a cover letter. “Anheuser-Busch did not intend to create controversy or make a political statement,†it said.
“In reality, the Bud Light can posted by a social media influencer that sparked all the conversation was provided by an outside agency without Anheuser-Busch management awareness or approval,†Grey Eagle continued in its letter. “Since that time, the lack of oversight and control over marketing decisions has been addressed and a new VP of Bud Light marketing has been announced.â€
Todd Allen, most recently the global vice president of Budweiser, is the new vice president of marketing for Bud Light, which is a bigger brand.
Robert Lachky, the former chief creative officer at Anheuser-Busch, said the decision to use a transgender influencer to sell Bud Light was a calamitous mistake.
â€The minute you step into the political or religious spectrum, when you know your target audience is going to have a real issue with this, you know you’ve alienated at least half of your target audience,†he said.
â€In the end, people don’t like getting preached to, especially when it comes to drinking beer.â€
Lachky left the company in 2009, shortly after it was acquired by Belgian-based InBev. He said the corporate marketing immediately began to slide after the acquisition when the company brought in foreign-born marketers who did not understand the American audience.
Now that the marketers are all American again, they still do not understand who consumes Bud Light and other mainstream Anheuser-Busch products, he said.
â€None of these marketing folks has ever been to a NASCAR race, none has been to a football game or a rodeo,†he said.
“That’s insanity. That’s marketing incompetence,†he said.
Even so, Kris Hansford, who owns the Trainwreck Saloon in Rock Hill and Westport, said she has not heard much pushback from the controversy.
The only incident that stood out is when a customer noticed a rainbow tattoo on a server and asked her about it.
“I guess you drink Bud Light, too,†the customer said.
Looking back at the incident, Hansford said, “That’s rude.â€
An analyst says that if nothing is done to address an informal boycott, the brand runs the risk of losing its status as the most-popular beer in the country.
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