The woes of a marketing campaign gone wrong as sales for the popular Bud Light beer has fallen 26 percent since a new marketing campaign with transgender activist Dylan Mulvaney was released.
Brian Bennett from STIR Advertising tells WTMJ controversy can be a good thing, but in this case, it’s a bad sign for the brand, which has a $5 billion value.
“It’s quite an event in the brewing world,” Bennett says. “This topic of transgenderism does not sit well with all of America…there’s a lot of folks who drink Bud Light who don’t want to be associated with it.”
Bennett adds marketing VP for the brand Alissa Heinerscheid doubled down on the company’s stance on being inclusive to transgenderism. She has since taken a leave of absence according to the company.
“This was not a big strategy for Bud Light, this was a little side deal,” Bennett said. “The problem is… what the VP said in defending her actions…this is a brand on the decline. She came out…with a distain for the core audience.”