Amid the controversy about the Bud Light partnership with transgender activist Dylan Mulvaney, executives at the company are reportedly panicking about how to do damage control despite not being informed of the campaign.
According to an anonymous source, senior executives at Bud Light's parent company Anheuser-Busch were blind-sighted by the Mulvaney partnership, calling it a mistake.
"No one at a senior level was aware this was happening," the source told the Daily Wire. "Some low-level marketing staffer who helps manage the hundreds of influencer engagements they do must have thought it was no big deal."
The source voiced frustration with the team at Bud Light, saying that the beer should only be known for its refreshing adult beverage, not its political views.
"It was [a big deal], and it's a shame because they have a well-earned reputation for just being America's beer — not a political company," the source continued.
The deal has cost the company roughly $6 billion in sales after an uproar of outrage from across the country vowed to boycott the beer.
Another source told the outlet that in the future, Anheuser-Busch will implement a more "robust" procedure before considering a partnership to "avoid another public relations nightmare."
According to OpenSecrets, Republican employees dominate Democrat employees at Anheuser-Busch. The company donates to both parties; however, in 2022, the company donated to Republican candidates.
Alissa Heinerscheid, the vice president of marketing at Bud Light, said in a recent podcast interview that she intends to move the brand away from its "fratty, kind of out-of-touch humor" and be more inclusive.
In Mulvaney's posts for Bud Light, he is dressed as the Breakfast At Tiffany's character, cracking open a bottle of the beer while saying, "This month I celebrated my 365 days of womanhood, and Bud Light sent me possibly the best gift ever, a can with my face on it."
Another shows him drinking a can of beer while lying in the bathtub. Of course, that is precisely what every beer-loving American wants to think of while drinking a Bud Light.
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