XPost: alt.fan.rush-limbaugh, alt.transgendered, talk.politics.guns   
   XPost: talk.politics.misc   
   From: transheuser-busch@gmail.com   
      
   Bud Light has faced boycotts since it partnered with transgender   
   influencer Dylan Mulvaney.   
      
   Anheuser-Busch Chief Executive Michel Doukeris has been in damage-control   
   mode since the company decided to partner with the transgender social-   
   media influencer Dylan Mulvaney. That deal -- which was not a major   
   promotion -- blew up in the company's face, leading to boycotts of its   
   products.   
      
   Bud Light, a brand led at the time by Vice President Alissa Heinerscheid,   
   sent Mulvaney cans of the beer with her face on them to celebrate her   
   first year living as a woman. That was a calculated business arrangement   
   for the transgender influencer to promote the beer -- which was then the   
   top-selling brand in the world -- to her followers.   
      
   DON'T MISS: 'Fratty' Bud Light Drinkers Say Trans Influencer Is Not the   
   Issue   
      
   It was part of Heinerscheid's efforts to expand the brand's customer base   
   beyond what she called its "fratty" core audience.   
      
   Those comments met a backlash of their own, but they likely would have   
   flown largely under the radar had the singer-songwriter Kid Rock not   
   decided to violently object to the Mulvaney partnership by shooting up   
   cases of Bud Light in a social media post.   
      
   That post from the rock star put everything about Bud Light, its   
   leadership, and its promotional-partner choices under the spotlight. Fans   
   of the beer boycotted not just Bud Light but other Budweiser products.   
   Doukeris has played down the impact of those boycotts   
      
   "The Bud Light volume decline in the U.S. over the first three weeks of   
   April, as publicly reported, would represent around 1% of our overall   
   global volumes for that period," he said during his company's first-   
   quarter-earnings call.   
      
   As CEO, Doukeris has to address the issue, but his comments seem likely to   
   just make both sides angry.   
      
   Anheuser-Busch CEO Tries to Play Both Sides   
   In a world where right-wing leaders like former President Donald Trump and   
   Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis have made "diversity" a dirty word, Doukeris   
   finds himself in an impossible position. Many of Bud Light's longtime fans   
   want the company (and specifically its CEO) to apologize for the Mulvaney   
   promotion.   
      
   If Doukeris did that, he likely would not fix the damage done to the Bud   
   Light brand because he would be accused of giving in to public pressure.   
   He'd also be condemning Mulvaney and essentially burning any hopes   
   Anheuser-Busch has of ever being seen as an inclusive brand.   
      
   That's not just alienating the LGBTQ+ community -- Anheuser-Busch has done   
   that by not supporting Mulvaney -- he would make the company toxic to   
   anyone who believes in diversity and inclusion. Instead of saying the bare   
   minimum, however, Doukeris has tried to minimize the Mulvaney promotion.   
      
   "This was the result of one can. It was not made for production or sale to   
   the general public. It was one post, not a formal campaign or   
   advertisement," he said.   
      
   Anheuser-Busch CEO Wants Out of the Conversation   
   Doukeris has basically admitted that the mistake his company made was   
   doing something that made its product political. Past ads for Budweiser   
   products generally leaned on Americana, sports, and the "fratty" humor   
   that Heinerscheid wanted to get away from.   
      
   The CEO addressed the issue and what he thinks happened.   
      
   "So I think that to start, we need to understand the current environment   
   and especially the social media landscape and how consumer brands,   
   especially big brands with significant reach, can be pulled into a   
   discussion like this one," he said. "And we know that ours, Bud Light, is   
   certainly not the first brand that was pulled into a situation like that."   
      
   Doukeris mostly seems to regret that the company opened up Bud Light to be   
   part of a political discussion.   
      
   "While beer will always be at the table when important topics are debated,   
   the beer itself should not be the focus of the debate. And to me, this is   
   the key learning," he added.   
      
   The CEO then went on to try to tell his angry customers that they're wrong   
   to be mad. That's not likely to pacify people on either side of the   
   discussion.   
      
   "One challenge is what you call the misinformation and confusion that   
   still exists. We will need to continue to clarify the fact that this was   
   one can, one influencer, one post, and not a campaign and repeat this   
   message for some time," he said.   
      
      
   [continued in next message]   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)