Anheuser-Busch InBev will continue to support the LGBTQ community despite backlash over a Bud Light ad campaign featuring a transgender influencer that has simmered for nearly three months, chief executive Brendan Whitworth said Wednesday. .
Bud Light should “try to bring people together,” he told “CBS Mornings.”
“I think the conversation around Bud Light has moved away from beer and become divisive,” Whitworth said. “And Bud Light doesn’t really belong there.”
AB InBev, the parent company of Bud Light, has come under fire from conservative activists and consumers for hiring transgender social media influencer Dylan Mulvaney for a March Madness promotional campaign.
Bud Light is among a number of brands targeted by activists and conservative lawmakers for their support of Pride-related events and products, including Disney, the Dodgers and Target.
Many Bud Light customers also responded negatively to comments made by Vice President of Marketing Alissa Heinerscheid in a recent podcast that included asking the brand to be more “inclusive.”
Whitworth dodged a question about whether Mulvaney’s campaign was a mistake.
“There’s a huge social conversation going on right now, and the big brands are right in the middle and it’s not just our industry or Bud Light,” he said. “It’s happening in retail, in fast food.
“So for us, what we need to deeply understand, understand and appreciate, is the consumer and what they want, what they care about and what they expect from the big brands,” he added.
Bud Light lost its top spot in the US beer market to Modelo last month as lagging sales following the uproar over his association with Mulvaney.
The hit to AB InBev’s business marks one of the few times in recent years that online backlash has led to a noticeable and sustained decline for a major brand.
