“Misinformation.”
That was the term the CEO of Anheuser-Busch’s parent company used to explain the hangover from Bud Light’s partnership with transgender influencer Dylan Mulvaney.
AB InBev CEO Michel Doukeris told the Financial Times that Bud Light sales have dropped and the brand’s public image ruined because of “misinformation and confusion” about a can of Bud Light emblazoned with Ms. Mulvaney’s face.
“We never intended to make it for general production and sale for the public,” he said of the Bud Light can.
“People often talk about this topic in social media like noise,” he told the Times. “You have one fact, and every person puts an opinion behind the fact. And then the opinions start to be replicated fast on each and every comment. By the time that 10 or 20 people put a comment out there, the reality is no longer what the fact is, but is more what the comments were.”
Mr. Doukeris used the same “misinformation” claim in an earnings call last week with investors.
“We need to clarify the facts that this was one can, one influencer, one post and not a campaign,” he said.
Ms. Mulvaney is a biological male who identifies as female and who in March marked 365 days “of being a girl” to the cheers of many of corporate America’s biggest brands, including Bud Light.
Bud Light sent Ms. Mulvaney a custom beer can featuring the face of the TikTok star who also made several videos promoting Bud Light.
The company also initially stood by the Mulvaney campaign as the social-media backlash was just starting to swell.
“Anheuser-Busch works with hundreds of influencers across our brands as one of many ways to authentically connect with audiences across various demographics and passion points,” a company spokesperson told Fox News.
It also defended sending the can as a celebration of Ms. Mulvaney’s gender transition.
“This commemorative can was a gift to celebrate a personal milestone,” the company added.
Anheuser-Busch has since lost $6 billion in stock-market value and become the target of boycotts and demonstrative attacks that have reduced Bud Light sales by about a quarter.
Multiple marketing executives have since taken a leave of absence, one of whom doing so after a video surfaced of her saying the brand’s survival required reaching out to social-media influencers and ending its “fratty” image.
• Victor Morton can be reached at vmorton@washingtontimes.com.
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