Bud Light Vice President says she wanted to change ‘out of touch’ beer to be more inclusive
Just before Bud partnered with trans activist Dylan Mulvaney, Alissa Heinerscheid said the beer was too 'fratty'.
Bud Light has found itself in the center of a social media storm in the past few weeks.
The beer company partnered with trans activist Dylan Mulvaney to promote March Madness and the reaction has not been great amongst some supporters.
However, Bud's Vice President hinted something like this was going to be on the cards just before it was announced.
Alissa Heinerscheid told the Make Yourself at Home podcast that she was keen to revamp Bud Light's image.
She felt the branding for the beer had been stuck in the past and needed to appeal to the younger generation.
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Heinerscheid said promoting 'inclusivity' was a big goal of hers and she wanted to see 'a campaign that's truly inclusive, and feels lighter and brighter and different, and appeals to women and to men'.
"We had this hangover, I mean Bud Light had been kind of a brand of fratty, kind of out of touch humor, and it was really important that we had another approach," she explained on the podcast.
"I had a really clear job to do when I took over Bud Light, and it was this brand is in decline, it's been in a decline for a really long time, and if we do not attract young drinkers to come and drink this brand there will be no future for."
But this initial image change hasn't gone down well with Bud's established base of drinkers.
Videos have been posted online of proud Bud Light drinkers either pouring their beloved nectar down the drain or even shooting cases with semi-automatic weapons in protest against the partnership.
Many say they'll never drink the beer again and were shocked by the company's move.
The company has since defended its partnership with Mulvaney and said it's no different with its many campaigns in the past in linking up with popular influencers.
A spokesperson told the Daily Mail: "Anheuser-Busch works with hundreds of influencers across our brands as one of many ways to authentically connect with audiences across various demographics.
"From time to time we produce unique commemorative cans for fans and for brand influencers, like Dylan Mulvaney.
"This commemorative can was a gift to celebrate a personal milestone and is not for sale to the general public."
Stewart Perrie