There is an old saying: “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.” Apparently, Anheuser Busch decided they wanted to break the Bud Light brand so they had an excuse to fix it. The early returns look like they were successful as the stock price tumbled on the first day of trading since the controversy started.
Of course, as is the case when any company is hell-bent on ruining its brand with forced diversity, Anheuser Busch is doubling down and attempting to change the image of its staple, Bud Light. Perhaps they should focus on making a better-tasting beer.
In an interview that was done before the can controversy, a Bud Light VT talked about updating the brand’s image. Not sure who they are marketing towards, or perhaps they don’t know their customer base as they should. Check this out.
As the fallout for Bud Light continues, a video of the brand’s marketing VPtalking about her intention to update the product’s “fratty” and “out of touch” image and replace it with “inclusivity” started making the rounds on social media.
Alissa Heinerscheid did an interview with the podcast “Make Yourself At Home” on March 23. In it, the marketing exec talked about her goals for revamping the Bud Light brand image.
Alissa Heinerscheid, Bud Light’s VP of Marketing, doubles down on her extreme woke strategy to promote the “declining” American beer brand to “young people”, while smearing her former customers as “fratty and out of touch”.
How’s that working out for you, lady? @budlight pic.twitter.com/zNYKbMnZnu
— Old Row (@OldRowOfficial) April 9, 2023
As if Bud Light doesn’t realize their customer base IS frat boys and blue-collar people that want a decent beer for their buck. Who has been excluded from drinking the water-like brew? It certainly is formulated to not taste like much so it appeals to new beer drinkers, women, and casual beer drinkers as well. Who isn’t included?
“I’m a businesswoman, I had a really clear job to do when I took over Bud Light, and it was ‘This brand is in decline, it’s been in a decline for a really long time, and if we do not attract young drinkers to come and drink this brand there will be no future for Bud Light,’” Heinerscheid said during the interview.
She went on to describe that she had a “super clear” mandate “to evolve and elevate this incredibly iconic brand.” Heinerscheid said she aimed to incorporate “inclusivity, it means shifting the tone, it means having a campaign that’s truly inclusive, and feels lighter and brighter and different, and appeals to women and to men.”“Representation is sort of at the heart of evolution, you have got to see people who reflect you in the work,” the marketing exec continued. “We had this hangover, I mean Bud Light had been kind of a brand of fratty, kind of out-of-touch humor, and it was really important that we had another approach.”
If Bud Light has been in decline, it’s because AB has developed better brands. Michelob Ultra comes to mind. Bud Light was developed and got popular because it was made to appeal to a certain segment; beer drinkers that didn’t want to spend for premium beer, or maybe don’t really like beer so they pick the most popular beer with the most generic taste.
No one is going to sit around in high-class circles sipping a Bud Light. No amount of putting activist’s faces on cans or re-branding is going to change that.
Bud Light was founded on fratty, out-of-touch humor. The point they are missing is that fratty, out-of-touch humor appealed to people that actually bought the beer. Now, they are attempting to appeal to people that were never Bud Light drinkers and never will be. It’s a cheap, crappy beer made for new drinkers and college kids. Let it be what it is, and stop ruining everything with the inclusivity that the brand doesn’t need. Everyone is welcome to drink crappy, cheap beer!
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