Sam Amico
Bud Light is contemplating parting ways with another senior marketing executive following the controversial decision to use transgender influencer Dylan Mulvaney as a company spokesperson.
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Daniel Blake, who oversees marketing for Anheuser-Busch’s mainstream brands, took a leave of absence on Sunday, per the Wall Street Journal.
This follows the news that Bud Light is considering canning vice president of Marketing Alissa Heinerscheid, who took a leave of absence on Friday. Heinerscheid is said to be behind the Mulvaney campaign.
Daniel Blake
“Given the circumstances, Alissa has decided to take a leave of absence, which we support,” an Anheuser-Busch spokeswoman told the Journal. “Daniel has also decided to take a leave of absence.”
The decisions to take leaves were not voluntary, sources told the Journal.
As for the brand itself, it has come under attack from musicians and the general public alike, with sales reportedly declining rapidly, since Mulvaney became a spokesperson. The fact Bud Light is forcing those in charge of the campaign to take leaves should give you a pretty good idea how bad things are going.
“Heinerscheid has led the brand since June,” the New York Post noted. “It’s unclear if her replacement, Todd Allen, the global vice president of Budweiser, would be in the role permanently.”
Alissa Heinerscheid
Anheuser-Busch InBev CEO Brendan Whitworth issued a press release apologizing for the Mulvaney decision, saying the brand did not want to offend anyone.
“We never intended to be part of a discussion that divides people,” Whitworth said in the release, titled Our Responsibility To America.
“We are in the business of bringing people together over a beer.”
