Frustrated former employees of Anheuser-Busch complained that "incompetent" leadership at the beer company had cowered in fear to the criticism it faced for partnering with Dylan Mulvaney last April, and should've doubled down in supporting the transgender influencer.
"I really wish that we had stuck to our guns and said: ‘We did this; beer is for everyone; get over it,'" one ex-employee told The Guardian.
The media outlet spoke to several former employees on the condition of anonymity about their experience working for the beer giant while they dealt with "one of the biggest boycotts in US history." Bud Light sales have dropped nearly 30% since last May, after backlash ensued when they sent customized beer cans to Mulvaney to celebrate the transgender woman's "365 days of girlhood."
Another ex-employee said leadership responded with "panic and rash decisions" to the chaos in the immediate aftermath.
"There was a lot of panic and a lot of rash decision-making," the person said. "We didn’t hear anything from leadership for over a month, and then after a few weeks, someone high up at Anheuser-Busch released a statement that pretty much said nothing."
Anheuser-Busch initially defended their campaign, saying their partnership with the transgender activist helped "authentically connect with audiences."
As backlash mounted to Mulvaney’s post, Anheuser-Busch CEO Brendan Whitworth remarked two weeks later, "We never intended to be part of a discussion that divides people. We are in the business of bringing people together over a beer."
Former staff described how the company's response left them worried for months about Mulvaney's welfare and their own job security.
"Are we doing everything we can as a company to support this person?" one former employee remembered asking. Their boss reportedly told them they were "constantly talking" to Mulvaney.
The same person revealed there wasn't "much assurance" from top leaders at the company in addressing staff concerns about the backlash. Looking back, they said there was a pattern of "a lot of trickled-down lies from leadership."
After the initial statements to the media, the company told its publicity department to "stop communicating" with the press while "everyone regrouped," the first anonymous employee claimed. Anheuser-Busch also temporarily turned off comments on its social media pages.
Some employees pointed to the company's lack of diversity and "incompetence' at the top level as responsible for what they perceived as a botched response to the backlash.
"It’s just old White men," the employee said. That's why they said staff was "excited" to see former top executive Alissa Heinerscheid promoted as the first female vice-president of marketing for Bud Light last year.
"Representation in the C-suite doesn’t solve everything – and Anheuser-Busch is far from the only company without it – but former employees say that a more diverse boardroom might have led to a more empathetic handling of the controversy," the Guardian said, summarizing employee sentiment.
Anheuser-Busch also didn't understand how to handle the controversy because they had previously played it safe in their marketing campaigns, another employee argued.
"Anheuser-Busch was operating always from a position of fear," they said.
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One ex-employee said while Heinerscheid was blamed for the marketing campaign with Mulvaney, she inherited a strategy that was already established "by men that were previously working in these positions." The former staffer told the Guardian there was an "incompetence in the leadership on a national level" at Anheuser-Busch, describing its chief marketing officer as someone who "doesn’t really understand a lot of the political battles" at the national level.
Anheuser-Busch did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Six months after the controversy began, one beer industry expert believes the damage to the company might be "quasi-permanent" and longtime consumers could be "lost forever."
"The Bud Light situation has actually gotten worse," Beer Business Daily publisher Harry Schuhmacher told Fox News Digital.
In July, the company announced it would be laying off hundreds of employees across its U.S. corporate staff. Bud Light's sale volume has been down 30% since last year.
Schuhmacher said Bud Light is likely to see similar year-over-year declines for the "foreseeable future," or "at least until April and May of 2024 when they lap the controversy" and the new normal will be baked into the numbers.
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Fox News' Brian Flood contributed to this report.
