Anheuser-Busch CEO Shifts Focus, Compensates Workers Amid Transgender Backlash

Bud Light beer cans sit on a table in right field during the Baltimore Orioles and Toronto Blue Jays game at Oriole Park at Camden Yards in Baltimore, Md., on Sept. 19, 2019. Rob Carr/Getty Images

The parent company of Bud Light announced it would compensate workers amid a backlash targeting the beer after it decided to partner with transgender activist Dylan Mulvaney.

“The situation impacts really the front-line workers more than anybody else,” Michel Doukeris, the CEO of Anheuser-Busch InBev, told the Wall Street Journal on Thursday.

Bud Light’s delivery drivers, sales representatives, and distributors will get a $500 bonus each, he told the paper, claiming that they have been confronted by angry people on the street. He added: “Think about the truck drivers, the delivery people, the sales reps, merchandisers. Those are people that are the fabric of our business ... they are family and neighbors.”

However, the CEO told the paper that his company would continue to support LGBT organizations in a comment that likely won’t quell the backlash against the brand anytime soon.

“We remain committed to the programs and partnerships that we have forged across decades,” Doukeris said, adding that the company has given donations to military veterans groups, LGBT groups, and organizations that support black and Hispanic communities.

But in an earnings call, Doukeris appeared to distance Bud Light from Mulvaney, a male who claims to be a woman, and stressed that it was just “one can” that was sent. “We need to clarify the facts that this was one can, one influencer, one post, and not a campaign,” Doukeris said, adding that the company will triple its planned investment into Bud Light over the summer.

“We believe we have the experience, the resources, and the partners to manage this. And our four-year growth outlook is unchanged,” Doukeris added. “We want to reiterate our support for our wholesaler partners and everyone who brings our great beers to the market. I can tell you that we have the agility, resources, and people to support the U.S. team and move forward,” he said, also telling investors that the beverage giant is “providing direct financial support” to delivery drivers and other “frontline workers.”

Swift Backlash

After Mulvaney posted to social media a photo of a can bearing the influencer’s likeness, the backlash was swift. A handful of conservative celebrities suggested that they would boycott the brand, causing sales of the light beer to drop sharply.

Country singer John Rich, rap-rock star Kid Rock, Travis Tritt, and conservative influencers have suggested people boycott the brand amidst the controversy. In one instance, Kid Rock, born Bob Ritchie, used cases of Bud Light for target practice in a now-viral video.

For the week that ended on April 22, Bud Light’s retail-store sales dropped 21 percent. Previous weeks also saw drops, according to Nielsen data, which noted that sales of Coors Light and Miller Lite each rose about 21 percent each for the week.

At the same time, marketing and public relations experts have publicly questioned why Anheuser-Busch partnered with Mulvaney and suggested Bud Light’s executives are out of touch with consumers who purchase the beer.

David Johnson, CEO of Strategic Vision PR Group and expert in crisis communications, told Fox News last month that he would have told Bud Light to avoid “this situation” entirely. “Their brand identity is Midwest, southeast, southwest, rural purchasers, conservatives, sports fans as well,” he said. “And the Mulvaney endorsement, partnership seems to go against that brand.”

Bud Light doesn’t appeal to “young, upper-class females,” which is what the Mulvaney ad campaign may have sought to target, Johnson told Fox News. “Those people, that demographic, is never gonna be your Bud Light fan. They’re not a big beer drinker—we’ve seen this in survey after survey,” he said.

The controversy also prompted Bud Light to place two executives, Alissa Heinerscheid, the vice president of marketing, and another executive, Daniel Blake, on leave last month.

In the meantime, the company is attempting to win back its consumer base who may have been upset over the Mulvaney partnership. The firm over the weekend released a YouTube ad of younger beer drinkers at a country music festival.

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Amid the backlash, Anheuser-Busch InBev reported higher than expected first-quarter earnings on Thursday as sharp price increases failed to put customers off. The Belgium-based company, which makes around a quarter of all beer drunk globally, said its results confirmed the resilience of the beer market in the face of economic challenges, notably inflation.

Doukeris also said it was too early to assess the full impact of the boycott, but added the drop-off of Bud Light sales in the first three weeks of April was equivalent to about 1 percent of global volumes for that period, according to Reuters.

Reuters contributed to this report.