Former Anheuser-Busch sales director says executives ‘underestimate’ Bud Light backlash

Anheuser-Busch’s former sales director has said the company is suffering because it “politicized” Bud Light – alienating customers on the right and left.

His comments come nearly three months after a partnership with trans influencer Dylan Mulvaney fell through, costing the company $27 billion in value at one point.

Anson Frericks, who served as president of sales and distribution for Anheuser-Busch for more than a decade, told CNBC the company “underestimated” the importance of reacting quickly with a clear reaction after the backlash that followed.

“Anheuser-Busch has lost track of who its customer is,” said Frericks, who left his position at the company and co-founded Ohio-based asset management firm Strive.

“A brand like Bud Light is a brand that has never been political, but now it’s being shunned by customers on the right, who see this partnership as a very politicized position they’ve taken, and also by customers on the left who don’t doing. “I don’t feel supported in the midst of the backlash,” he said.

Frericks said Bud Light was not a political product in the past, but the recent collaboration had caused a stir on both the left and the right

Other companies, including Target, Adidas, Maybelline and PetSmart, have experienced similar struggles with boycotts.

The backlash has hit Bud Light particularly hard as there are a number of replacement beers, sales of which have now increased, but relentless media coverage has also extended the boycott, he continued.

Frericks also said the company had failed to implement a clear strategy to deal with the backlash, causing both sales and the company’s share price to suffer.

Hoping to repair some of the damage, Bud Light launched a new summer commercial and contest to win back customers.

The spot focuses on summer activities where you can enjoy a Bud Light, such as ‘Good Times’ by dance music group Chic. It features two women lugging a keg to a party, two dogs cooling off in a pool, and a family enjoying a barbecue before opening a Bud Light cooler.

Sales are down by double digits, and in May it lost its spot as the top-selling beer in the US, CNBC reported.

Despite the rally since the beginning of this month, AB’s share price was just under $58 when markets closed on Thursday. When Mulvaney shared the news of the Instagram partnership, the stock was trading for around $67.

In a response to CNBC, a spokesperson for the company said it remains committed to the LGBTQ community.

“We remain committed to the programs and partnerships we have forged with organizations over the decades to drive economic prosperity in a number of communities, including those in the LGBTQ+ community,” they said.

“We recently shared that our partnership with the [National Gay and Lesbian Chamber of Commerce] to empower LGBTQ+ owned small businesses across America will continue for a second year.”

On Monday, a representative of the company’s chief marketing officer conceded in accepting an advertising award that represented the Bud Light partnership with Mulvaney was a humble reminder it needs to better understand its consumers.

Ironically, Marcel Marcondes made the remarks while accepting an award for ‘Creative Marketer of the Year’ at Cannes Lions – a lavish industry conference in the south of France dubbed the ‘Oscars for the advertising industry’.

Although AB was declared the winner of the prize before the fiasco broke out in early April, it was not officially awarded until Monday. Some suggested that AB should not accept the award

AB’s share price was just under $58 when markets closed Thursday. When Mulvaney shared the news of the partnership with Instagram (pictured), the shares traded for about $67

Although AB was actually declared the winner of the prize before the fiasco broke out, it was not officially awarded until Monday.

“In times like this, when things are so divisive and controversial, I think it’s an important wake-up call for all of us marketers to start with being very humble,” he said.

“That’s what we do, be very humble and really remind ourselves of what we should be doing best every day, which is really understanding our consumers.

“That’s to really celebrate and appreciate every consumer who loves our brands – but in a way that allows them to be together, not apart.”

The session was described in the event’s programming notes as a talk that was in part about AB InBev’s “unwavering focus on connecting with consumers in meaningful ways.” This is reported by the Wall Street Journal.

Anheuser-Busch’s global chief marketing officer Marcel Marcondes (pictured) said the Bud Light partnership with Dylan Mulvaney was a humble reminder that the company needs to better understand its consumers

According to his LinkedIn profile, Marcondes has been with AB InBev for nearly two decades and now oversees the global marketing strategies of AB brands, including Budweiser, Bud Light, Michelob ULTRA and Stella Artois.

“It’s hard to see the contentious and divisive debates that have taken place in the US in recent weeks involving many brands and companies, including and especially Bud Light,” he said during Monday’s presentation.

“It’s difficult, precisely because we’re all about bringing people together.”

“That’s what Bud Light is all about – it exists to make beer easy to drink and easy to enjoy,” he said.