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   From: transheuser-busch@gmail.com   
      
   Anheuser-Busch InBev (NYSE:BUD), the multinational brewing company behind   
   Bud Light, is facing a crisis, and a former executive has offered his   
   perspective on the situation.   
      
   "It looks like the battle has already been lost," Anson Frericks, former   
   president of Anheuser Busch Sales & Distribution Co., wrote in a recent   
   column for the Daily Mail.   
      
   In April, Bud Light partnered with transgender social media influencer   
   Dylan Mulvaney, who has 10.7 million followers on TikTok. The   
   collaboration triggered a backlash on social media and led some beer   
   drinkers to boycott Bud Light.   
      
   Bud Light sales in the U.S. dropped 28% in the four-week period ended July   
   1 compared to the previous year, according to consulting company Bump   
   Williams using data from NielsenIQ.   
      
   In light of the marketing fiasco, Bud Light CEO Brendan Whitworth recently   
   said, "As we move forward, we will focus on what we do best — brewing   
   great beer and earning our place in moments that matter to you."   
      
   Frericks doesn't like how Whitworth handled the situation.   
      
   "What does that mean? Absolutely nothing. And it will only deepen the   
   chasm between the brand and its customers," he wrote.   
      
   "As such — and I take no pleasure in passing this judgment — it's clear to   
   me that it's time for the shareholders and board of Anheuser-Busch to ask   
   Whitworth to step down."   
      
   There's no personal grudge here. Frericks made it clear that he had a good   
   relationship with Whitworth — the Anheuser-Busch CEO promoted him twice,   
   and he left on his own terms.   
      
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   Shareholders Taking A Hit   
   Shares of Anheuser-Busch have been impacted as well. Since April 1, when   
   Mulvaney first promoted the beer on social media, the New York Stock   
   Exchange-listed BUD stock has tumbled about 13%, resulting in the loss of   
   billions of dollars of market cap.   
      
   That's a huge blow to the company's investors.   
      
   Fericks said that asset managers The Vanguard Group, BlackRock Inc. and   
   State Street Corp. are the largest shareholders in most publicly traded   
   companies. And as a result, they "call the shots" and are "the key   
   architects of ‘stakeholder' capitalism, with their now infamous ‘diversity   
   and inclusion' targets."   
      
   But according to Fericks, these giant asset managers aren't the real   
   shareholders.   
      
   "The real shareholders are the firefighters, police officers and doctors,   
   whose life-savings — held in pensions and 401(k)s — are managed by these   
   monster firms," he wrote. "These are ordinary Americans — who don't care   
   for virtue signaling and money-wasting exercises."   
      
   Fericks said that these people — the real shareholders — "should feel   
   entitled to demand a CEO who speaks for them."   
      
   And that's why he's calling for a leadership change.   
      
   "Whitworth has clearly shown himself to be incapable of solving the   
   Mulvaney crisis," he wrote. "It's time he did the right thing and stepped   
   aside to make way for someone capable of righting the sinking Bud Light   
   ship."   
      
   Beer Stocks In The Spotlight   
   While Bud Light is grappling with declining sales, competitors are seizing   
   the opportunity to swoop in and grab market share.   
      
   According to NielsonIQ data, Bud Light is no longer America's best-selling   
   beer. The top spot now belongs to Modelo Especial, brewed by Constellation   
   Brands Inc. (NYSE:STZ).   
      
   Constellation Brands is a leading international producer and marketer of   
   beer, wine and spirits. Other than Modelo Especial, the company has many   
   other popular brands, including Corona beer, Robert Mondavi wines and High   
   West whiskey.   
      
      
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