Brendan Whitworth is the Anheuser-Busch InBev CEO. On Friday he made a statement about the Dylan Mulvaney sponsorship which basically said:
NOTHING.
He said. “We never intended to be part of a discussion that divides people,” and “We are in the business of bringing people together over a beer.”
So if they never intended to divide people why would they pick someone who by his very self-identification would antagonize the great majority of Bud Light customers? Well, because their corporate culture is antithetical to the beliefs of the people who they sell their product to. And they’d rather virtue-signal to their peers about how enlightened they are, even if it infuriates their customers.
My favorite comment on this apology was: “NOPE. Not good enough. Boycott continues until full apology, fire VP Mrkt, and Mulvaney dropped. Either that or Anheuser-Busch becomes the next Schlitz.”
Well, this is the perfect test case. Bud Light is Joe Six-Pack’s go to beverage. If there is one product that could be boycotted to good effect it’s this one. And it’s the perfect time of year. We’re on the cusp of barbecue weather and baseball and every other sports event but football. So let’s just see where this goes. If you never hear another thing about this then it’s hopeless. Anheuser-Busch needs Bud Light profitable to stay in business. If they never give a real apology and fire the wicked witch of the west then basically we have no clout at all. So stay tuned. I’ll follow up on this one.