Recently, Anheuser-Busch’s US chief marketing officer announced he would be resigning from his position as Bud Light continues to suffer from intense consumer backlash.
Benoit Garbe has served as Anheuser-Busch’s chief marketing officer for over two years following stints at other high-profile companies. However, Garbe noted that he “will be resigning at the end of the year in order to embark on a new chapter in his career,” Anheuser-Busch said in a statement to The New York Post.
Anheuser-Busch CEO Brendan Whitworth stated, “This week we announced key changes to our US leadership team that reduce layers within our organization and better enable our top commercial leaders to drive our business and legacy forward.”
“These senior leadership changes will accelerate our return to growth as we continue to focus on what we do best—brewing great beer for everyone and earning our place in moments that matter,” he continued.
Since the disastrous partnership with transgender activist Dylan Mulvaney in April of this year, Bud Light has faced a seemingly unending boycott from beer drinkers. Since the controversy unfolded nearly seven months ago, Bud Light’s sales have consistently endured double-digit declines. Other products that fell under AB’s umbrella also experienced declining sales, suggesting some drinkers extended their boycott to the broader company.
Perhaps the most humiliating result of the boycott was Bud Light losing its over two-decade run as the best-selling beer in America. Earlier this year, Modelo Especial had finally outsold Bud Light on a market share basis after experts had been predicting it for months.
Some experts familiar with the beverage industry anticipate that Bud Light could have permanently lost a significant number of customers from the Mulvaney stunt. Ultimately, the Bud Light brand may be irreparably damaged as consumers have quickly changed their brand preferences in a market with innumerable non-woke competitors.
Things have gotten so bad for the woke that the heir to the Anheuser-Busch fortune, Billy Busch, even offered to buy back the Bud Light brand and get it on the right path. Busch claimed that his ancestors would have “rolled over in their grave” if they could see what has been done to the company they worked so hard to build.
“I think my family my ancestors would have rolled over in their grave. They were very patriotic. They love this country and what it stood for. They believe that transgender, gays, that sort of thing was all a very personal issue,” the heir said.
“They [his ancestors] knew who their drinkers were. They were with the bar owners and the restaurant owners and the liquor store owners and talking to these people day in and day out. Even my dad at 89 years old, 90 years old, he was still going to the bars selling Budweiser back in those days, in the ’80s,” Busch stated.
Busch emphasized his seriousness in his offer to buy Bud Light, saying, “I urge that company, InBev, if they don’t want that brand any longer, sell it back to the Busch family. Sell it to me. I’ll be the first in line to buy that brand back from you. And we’ll make that brand great again.”
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