The embattled owner of the brand Bud Light, Anheuser-Busch, has stayed quiet over whether the marketing executives who were put on leave following the Dylan Mulvaney controversy were part of recent layoffs.
The company laid off hundreds of U.S. employees on Wednesday following a restructuring that eliminated corporate and marketing roles at major offices across the country due to declining sales, according to The Wall Street Journal. The company has not publicly said whether the two marketing executives, Group Vice President for Marketing Daniel Blake and Bud Light Vice President of Marketing Alissa Heinerscheid, who were responsible for the campaign with Mulvaney, are still employed with the company and did not respond to questions from the Daily Caller News Foundation on whether they were part of the layoffs. (RELATED: REPORT: Anheuser-Busch Lobbyists Hosted Secret Fundraiser With Democratic Staffers)
Bud Light has been the target of conservative backlash ever since partnering with transgender social media influencer Dylan Mulvaney in April, with the brand creating customized beer cans with Mulvaney’s face on them.
The brand’s sales have continued to be impacted by the boycott, with sales plummeting 23.6% year-over-year in the one-week period ending July 8 and 27.1% for the four-week period ending July 8.
Following the controversy in April, Blake and Heinerscheid were put on a leave of absence.
Anheuser-Busch did not respond to several June inquiries from the Daily Caller as to the employment status of Blake and Heinerscheid.
The brewer of Bud Light lays off hundreds of U.S. workers as Anheuser-Busch restructures its corporate offices amid controversy and sales slump https://t.co/g6FOPgxmoo via @WSJ
— Tom Fitton (@TomFitton) July 27, 2023
A video of Heinerscheid surfaced after the controversial promotion, where she bashed the popular brand as having “fratty kind of out-of-touch humor,” calling for a different approach and “inclusivity” for the brand. Facebook photos were later found showing Heinerscheid engaging in the same type of behavior she criticized.
Bud Light lost its spot as America’s top-selling beer in June following the backlash, getting beat out by Modelo Especial after Bud Light’s sales dropped.
It was previously reported that both Blake and Heinerscheid are no longer employed at Anheuser-Busch, according to texts obtained by the Daily Caller from an inside source at the company.
“To my understanding if we publicly announced the word ‘fire’ it opens up the potential for them to sue us. Thats why we said leave of absence,” the source told the Daily Caller.
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