Former Bud Light employees have accused its leadership of “cowardice” in the wake of the Dylan Mulvaney fiasco – and said the company should have been more supportive of the trans influencer.
Sales at Anheuser-Busch have fallen 30 percent since 2022 after a disastrous partnership with Mulvaney, a transgender influencer who has documented her transition to womanhood on TikTok.
What was once the best-selling beer has now been surpassed in sales by Modelo, Coors and Yuengling.
Now, former employees of the company have accused leadership of “lying” to employees, failing to adequately support Mulvaney and keeping them in the dark as the company experienced one setback after another.
They expressed a wish that management had simply stuck with it and told the world to “get over it” instead of reeling from the mistake.
One person who used to work in Anheuser-Busch’s advertising department told the Guardian after the ordeal: “My job wasn’t normal. “It was completely different and very strange.”
The problems with Bud Light began when 26-year-old Dylan Mulvaney showed her 10.8 million Instagram followers a video of herself cracking open a can of Bud Light on April 1
Brendan Whitworth, CEO of Anheuser-Busch
Another former employee said of the fallout from the disastrous partnership: “There was a lot of panic and a lot of rash decisions.”
“We didn’t hear from leadership for over a month, and then after a few weeks, someone high up at Anheuser-Busch released a statement that said next to nothing.”
Others said Alissa Heinerscheid, the marketing vice president blamed for the disaster, had “nothing to do with it.”
The former employee told the Guardian there was “incompetence in leadership at a national level” at Anheuser-Busch.
Former Anheuser-Busch employees also expressed concern for Mulvaney even during the situation, but were often rebuffed by their superiors.
One person recalled asking their boss, ‘Are we as a company doing everything we can to support this person?’ The answer was, ‘Yes, don’t worry. We talk to her all the time.’
Mulvaney’s disastrous partnership with Bud Light occurred in April, around the time of March Madness
Other workers at the beer company described worrying about job security as the company’s shares and profits plummeted – but bosses didn’t do much to help.
One former employee said, “I don’t remember there being much reassurance.” It’s possible that a canned response was given at some town hall [meeting].’
They said there were “a lot of leaked lies from the leadership.”
And another said they wished bosses had simply admitted: “We did this; Beer is for everyone; Get over it.’
The company said Bud Light sales fell 27 percent over a four-week period in September compared to the same period in 2022.
Just last week, Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates bought 1.7 million shares of Anheuser-Busch after Wall Street analysts encouraged investors to buy shares of the beverage brand.
This month, Bud Light made the latest attempt to bring back former drinkers with the introduction of bottles specifically for college sports teams, including the University of Kentucky Wildcats.
In August, Bud Light’s parent company expressed confidence that its U.S. market share had stabilized after a promotion featuring a transgender influencer cost it sales.
Anheuser-Busch Inbev said its U.S. sales fell 10.5 percent in the second quarter.
The company said its total U.S. market share for all brands fell more than 5 percent to 36.9 percent in April, but then remained stable from late April to late June. Some of the company’s brands, such as Busch Lite and Michelob Ultra, have gained market share in the United States.
InBev CEO Michel Doukeris said during an earnings call in August that the company plans to provide financial support to U.S. wholesalers through the end of December to make up for lost Bud Light sales.
But he also said internal surveys show 80 percent of U.S. consumers have a positive or neutral view of the brand.
“Firstly, they want to enjoy their beer without discussion. Second, they want Bud Light to focus on beer. Third, they want Bud Light to focus on the platforms that all consumers love, like the NFL and music,” he said.
“We are taking feedback and working hard to win our consumers’ business.”
Some investors expressed concerns about the company’s discounts on Bud Light. In early July, for example, a grocery store in Michigan offered a $15 discount on a 24-pack of Bud Light that normally sells for $20.99.
But Doukeris said price increases over the last year have put the company in a better position to offer discounts. And he said summer marketing campaigns were already planned before the Bud Light situation.