Bud Light confirms ‘leave of absence’ for marketing VP behind Dylan Mulvaney controversy

Anheuser-Busch, the parent company of Bud Light, has reportedly switched up Bud Light’s marketing team in the wake of the Dylan Mulvaney controversy.

“Alissa Heinerscheid, marketing VP for the brand since June 2022, has taken a leave of absence, the brewer confirmed, and will be replaced by Todd Allen, who was most recently global marketing VP for Budweiser,” AdAge magazine reported.

While no reason was offered for the abrupt switch, AdAge noted that, according to a statement from an Anheuser-Busch distributor out of Kansas, Heinerscheid’s decision to involve the company with Mulvaney “circumvented the proper approval channels.”

Heinerscheid’s ouster follows a recent interview she did with the “Make Yourself At Home” podcast in which she touted her efforts at making Bud Light’s marketing more “inclusive” and, ultimately, leftist.

“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,” she said on the podcast.

“So I had this super clear mandate. It’s like we need to evolve and elevate this incredibly iconic brand, and what I brought to that was a belief in — OK, what does evolve and elevate mean? It means inclusivity, it means shifting the tone, it means having a campaign that’s truly inclusive and feels lighter and brighter and different and appeals to women and to men,” she added.

She went on to attack the brand’s past marketing efforts.

“And representation is at sort of the heart of that evolution. You gotta 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,” she said.

Listen:

As previously reported, the controversy at Bud Light erupted after the brand decided to pursue a business partnership with Mulvaney, a biological male who purports to be a “transgender woman.”

In addition to making a special Bud Light can featuring Mulvaney’s face, the brand also had the “transgender woman” post the following promotion to his Instagram page:

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by Dylan Mulvaney (@dylanmulvaney)

The backlash was swift.

“In the two days since Mulvaney’s post about Bud Light, which is owned by Anheuser-Busch, countless videos have been shared online showing consumers dumping their Bud Light products in trash bins and down sinks — and even violently destroying cans of the beer,” NBC News reported at the time.

Several conservative celebrities got in on the boycott as well.

For example, country music star Travis Tritt revealed that he’d be deleting Anheuser-Busch products from his tour hospitality rider. Meanwhile, rock star Kid Rock used Bud Light cans for target practice with his guns.

Dovetailing back to Heinerscheid’s ouster, most critics appear pleased with it, though a few are demanding Anheuser-Busch take the extra step of firing her.

Look:

DONATE TO BIZPAC REVIEW

Please help us! If you are fed up with letting radical big tech execs, phony fact-checkers, tyrannical liberals and a lying mainstream media have unprecedented power over your news please consider making a donation to BPR to help us fight them. Now is the time. Truth has never been more critical!

Success! Thank you for donating. Please share BPR content to help combat the lies.
Vivek Saxena

Comment

We have no tolerance for comments containing violence, racism, profanity, vulgarity, doxing, or discourteous behavior. If a comment is spam, instead of replying to it please click the ∨ icon below and to the right of that comment. Thank you for partnering with us to maintain fruitful conversation.

BPR INSIDER COMMENTS

Scroll down for non-member comments or join our insider conversations by becoming a member. We'd love to have you!

Latest Articles