After three weeks of a bruising controversy over working with a transgender influencer, Anheuser-Busch is making some changes.
Alissa Heinerscheid, the marketing vice president who led the charge for a new marketing strategy for Bud Light is now on a leave of absence, according to Ad Age.
Heinerscheid, who took over last June, will be replaced by Todd Allen, who had been Budweiser’s global marketing vice president.
Budweiser has been reeling ever since its partnership with transgender influencer Dylan Mulvaney became public. From furious country music stars to customers actively boycotting Bud Light, the brand has taken a beating.
Conservative pundit Matt Walsh, a staunch opponent of transgenderism, called Heinerscheid’s removal a win for “Team Sanity” on Twitter:
The Bud Light executive who came up with the Dylan Mulvaney campaign is now gone from the company. I told you this boycott was working. We got actual results. A victory for Team Sanity.
— Matt Walsh (@MattWalshBlog) April 22, 2023
Heinerscheid became a lightning rod for anger due to comments from a March interview, in which she had declared her commitment to make changes by criticizing the past, according to the U.K. Daily Mail.
“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,” she said then.
Meet Alissa Heinerscheid, Bud Light’s VP of Marketing. She explains her strategy of using “inclusive” marketing to promote the brand to young people. pic.twitter.com/hFpe8YnbBc
— Catch Up (@CatchUpFeed) April 9, 2023
Does Anheuser-Busch have more work to do before winning back Americans?
Anheuser-Busch overhauled how its marketing arm was structured “so that our most senior marketers are more closely connected to every aspect of our brand’s activities,” a company spokesperson said in a statement, per the National Review.
“These steps will help us maintain focus on the things we do best: brewing great beer for all consumers, while always making a positive impact in our communities and on our country,” the statement said.
The statement said the company “some next steps with our internal teams and wholesaler partners,” adding “we made it clear that the safety and welfare of our employees and our partners is our top priority.”
Bud Light waves the white flag, ousting disastrous VP of Mktg, weeks after destroying its own brand by going woke on gender.
Let that be a lesson to other corporations.
We’ve HAD IT. https://t.co/KdB3mF4eBH— Megyn Kelly (@megynkelly) April 22, 2023
Writing on Outkick, a conservative sports and culture site, Ian Miller said the issue is larger than one company, and wrote that he hoped others learned form the Bud Light controversy, noting that Heinerscheid’s approach was “unfortunately standard operating procedure for most modern companies. They have no issue aligning with liberal causes or individuals, believing they’ll be rewarded with media and social media praise for their political activism.”
“The fanatical focus on targeting progressives excludes half the country, especially the half that drinks Bud Light,” he wrote. “Offending your customers is generally a bad strategy, but young marketing executives are apparently incapable of producing original ideas. The inevitable Bud Light boycott has undoubtedly hurt the company, all because they seem to have unbridled contempt for the people who purchase their products.”
He added: “Maybe, just maybe, this will teach the company, and many other companies, a lesson. The way to unite people is to avoid taking sides with progressives at every opportunity.”
This article appeared originally on The Western Journal.
