XPost: alt.retail.grocery, rec.food.drink.beer, stl.general
XPost: alt.fan.rush-limbaugh, talk.politics.guns, sac.politics
From: sales@verizon.com
"Leroy N. Soetoro" wrote in
news:lnsAFF87A46AB71D6F089P2473@0.0.0.1:
>
>
> A group of marketing execs at Anheuser-Busch, the company that created
> the Budweiser beer franchise, are brainstorming about their inability
> to extend Bud’s client base beyond traditional beer drinkers, i.e.
> older, working-class males.
>
> They want a new hipster generation of millennials and Gen-Z’ers to
> start enjoying cold ones as well. But it’s a real balancing act. Young
> people just won’t drop their craft cocktails and spiked sodas for beer
> overnight. And you can’t just ignore your long-time customers.
>
> “I got an idea,” says one of the suits, “let’s do a commercial
> featuring a trans woman and social-media influencer sipping a Bud
> Light, semi-nude, in a bubble bath.”
>
> “Brilliant!” the head of marketing beams, “Problem solved!”
>
> The aforementioned is a parody, of course. But like most parodies, it
> contains some striking elements of truth. It speaks to our latest
> example of corporate wokeism run amok, one that, if you’ve been
> following the news lately, threatens to ruin a corporate brand that
> took nearly two centuries to cultivate, and maybe two weeks to
> destroy.
>
> On these pages we’ve chronicled the noxious critical-race-theory
> indoctrination sessions at big firms like American Express, and
> Disney’s weird political opposition to a Florida law that only seeks
> to prevent schools from teaching sex-ed to toddlers. Jamie Dimon, the
> normally sensible CEO of banking giant JPMorgan, taking a knee for a
> photo in apparent allegiance to the radical Black Lives Matter
> movement.
>
> Called out on their actions amid backlash from customers, AmEx execs
> tell me those CRT sessions are no longer in place. Disney has toned
> down its lefty politics with the return of Bob Iger as CEO. The PR
> staff at JPMorgan now contend that Dimon took a knee to make sure
> people behind him weren’t obstructed.
>
> Anheuser-Busch is also scrambling to justify why its new ads featuring
> the transgender TikTok influencer and activist Dylan Mulvaney are a
> cool way of reaching new customers while not offending its current
> ones.
>
> It’s not working; Kid Rock recently took to social media posting a
> video of him shooting at cans of Bud Light. It went viral. Bars are
> reporting a drop in Bud Light sales. The company’s stock lost billions
> in market cap.
>
> Sheer ‘Madness’
> Common sense is always a better sales pitch than woke activism and
> there’s nothing common or sensical about Mulvaney luxuriating in a
> bubble bath and giggling while sipping a can of Bud Light. In another,
> Mulvaney is glammed up to resemble one of the quintessential female
> characters in literature and pop culture, Holly Golightly from
> “Breakfast at Tiffany’s.”
>
> “I kept hearing about this thing called March Madness and I just
> thought we were all having a hectic month, but as it turns out it has
> something to do with sports,” Mulvaney purrs while sipping a can of
> Bud Light. That she does this with a faux and exaggerated feminized
> accent, feigning ignorance about one of the country’s biggest sporting
> events, doesn’t make it any less cringey and sexist.
>
> The ads are running on social media, which made the situation worse
> because they evaded normal airing before beer wholesalers at their
> annual convention in January, I am told. They get to see upcoming TV
> spots and often weigh in on their quality.
>
> Budweiser, of course, was the creation of Adolphus Busch, who founded
> the beermaker and distributor Anheuser-Busch after he served in the
> Civil War. It’s an iconic American brand. Bud’s commercials play
> during Super Bowls, and included the Clydesdales, and my favorite,
> Spuds MacKenzie. They stressed commonality and community. When you
> drink a Bud, you’re an American. Full stop.
>
> Does that mean trans people don’t drink beer or aren’t American? Of
> course not. In any case, the trans community deserves respect. But
> it’s the sexualized politicization of a brand that pisses off so many
> Americans, including yours truly. The trans movement has gone far
> beyond demanding acceptance to advocacy and dogma in schools, cultural
> institutions and, now, with the help of increasingly progressive and
> politicized corporate ad and marketing departments, beer drinking.
>
> When will it stop? According to Wall Street traders, the answer is in
> the stock market, and they’re taking bets.
>
> The company’s new leadership is grappling with lower beer sales and
> shrinking profit margins. Shares are down nearly 40% over the past
> five years compared to a 50% rise in the S&P.
>
> To reverse the company’s long-term downward trajectory, it makes sense
> to appeal to new potential customers, though it seems odd that someone
> at Anheuser-Busch chose to accomplish that by alienating current ones.
> At one point last week, the company’s market value cratered by around
> $5 billion.
>
> A Wall Street trader says North American sales now make up less than
> 30% of revenues; so far, the recent drop off in sales is impacting
> certain areas of the US that are culturally conservative.
>
> But Anheuser-Busch doesn’t exactly have large room for error given the
> trends it’s trying to fight against.
>
> “Is it really prudent to ignore the market that got you where you
> are?” my trader source asks.
>
> The stock market is asking that question and answering with a
> resounding “no.”
>
> As for Anheuser Busch, the company wouldn’t respond to repeated
> requests for comment.
They haven't learned their lesson yet. More pain is necessary.
--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)
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