The Anheuser-Busch CEO just made the Bud Light / Trans issue much harder to fix
(And how I would have easily fixed the problem.)
When Bud Light partnered with a man pretending to be a woman… it was a huge misstep. To put it mildly.
Bud Light has had an established brand — that has had a clear image since it debuted in the early 1980s — with an emphasis on fun, manliness, and pretty ladies. That image and brand has contributed to billions of dollars in annual sales of the beer.
Obviously, partnering with a “Trans Woman” (aka “a man pretending to be a woman”) was always going to be off-putting to their established customer base.
In fact, “off-putting” may be putting it a bit lightly.
Current estimates (as of the time of this writing) puts total drop in sales of Bud Light, since the announced partnership with Mr. Mulvaney, to between 30% and 50%. And a net loss of over $6.5 Billion in stock valuation.
Any marketing professional could tell you that this was going to be a mistake. Heck. Any person who has heard of Bud Light before could tell you what a horrifically terrible idea this was.
Cater to a tiny percentage of the population — one which already did not represent any significant portion of their customer base… and promote an image that would be immediately offensive to the vast majority of their existing customers? There is no reality, within any of Marvel’s Multiverses, where that was going to be a good idea.
But, until a few hours ago, it was a mistake that could be fixed. Rather easily at that. (I’ll get into how I would have fixed it in a moment.)
Unfortunately, the parent company of Bud Light (Anheuser-Busch) has decided that they don’t want to fix the problem. In fact… they want to make it so much worse by releasing the following statement from their CEO:
Let’s ignore the strange tone. Because… woof! Not good!
Let’s focus on what this statement accomplishes:
It never addresses the issue. At all. Which only serves to remind people of the problem… and why they are unhappy with the company in the first place.
It, for the first time, loops in all of the other Anheuser-Busch properties to this marketing calamity.
Up until this absolutely disastrous statement from their CEO… the marketing folks at other companies and brands owned by Anheuser-Busch could claim that they are not part of whatever Bud Light is doing.
They could claim ignorance. They could state that they disagree with using a Trans person as a spokesperson. They could focus on their traditional markets.
That is now no longer an option for them.
Michelob. Stella Artois. Budweiser. Becks. Busch. Rolling Rock. Shock Top. And so many others.
Some of the biggest names in beer are now all looped in… and all going to take a hit, along with Bud Light.
All because the CEO decided to make a truly idiotic statement.
How it could have been fixed. Easily.
I’ve spent many years in marketing (including running marketing at multiple companies). Granted, those were all Tech companies… but the principles are the same.
And, from my experience, fixing this “Dylan Mulvaney Situation” would have been a piece of cake for Bud Light.
A three step process that would cost very little money… and could even result in a boost in sales.
Step 1) Fire the Chief Marketing Officer or Bud Light (along with anyone who proposed the deal with Mulvaney.
Simple. And it’s not even an ideological thing. Those people made a very bad decision for the core business of their company. If a marketing person pushes for an ad campaign… and that ad campaign loses Billions (with a B) of dollars? You fire them.
Because they suck at marketing and should not have a job at your company.
Step 2) Announce that firing. And announce a return to “the old ways” with a new CMO.
Tell the world, in a simple statement, that the people responsible for the deal with Mulvaney have been sacked. And that the company no longer associates with Mulvaney.
At the same time announce that Bud Light has hired a new Chief Marketing Officer… someone who knows the brand… someone who long-time drinkers of Bud Light have loved for years…
Spuds MacKenzie.
From now on… Spuds calls the shots. At least that’ll be the message to the world.
Step 3) Run old commercials. With Spuds. And ladies in bikinis.
Take all those old commercials starring Spuds (and a lot of ladies at the beach). Post them on social media. Put them everywhere.
That would be the “new” image and brand of Bud Light.
The image and brand that made Bud Light a success. And one which is the almost complete opposite of the Mulvaney fiasco.
Pretty ladies. Real ones.
Commercials that remind people of what things were like before the current wave of Trans craziness took over.
A dog that everyone loves. (At least everyone that would be interested in buying a Bud Light.)
Boom. Done.
It would have worked. People would have celebrated the return to normalcy. People would have purchased more Bud Light.
But now… now that approach isn’t really possible.
Sure, Anheuser-Busch could still follow my steps above… but, because the CEO decided to double-down and loop in all of their brands in the process… they are also going to need to make a public apology.
And it’s going to need to be sincere. The bandaid is going to be much harder to rip off now.
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