You’d think falling sales, a stock market disaster, and being mocked and avoided across the country would be enough to get even a woke executive to apologize for angering his company’s formerly loyal customers with an ad that they found extremely offensive. In the case of Anheuser Busch CEO Brendan Whitworth and AB InBev brand Bud Light, you’d be wrong, as Whitworth’s latest attempt to win back customers was devoid of even an apology.
In that June 15, 2023, statement, titled “Anheuser-Busch Announces Support For Frontline Employees And Wholesaler Partners,” Whitworth said that the beer is for “everyone” and that criticism of the beer has meant the focus on Bud Light is no longer beer, but refrained from apologizing to the conservative consumers his company offended.
He began by “recognizing” that people were now focusing on Bud Light for reasons other than beer, but didn’t say what the reason for that was, which is to say he didn’t admit that the Mulvaney partnership was offensive and a mistake. In that opening line, he said, “We recognize that over the last two months, the discussion surrounding our company and Bud Light has moved away from beer, and this has impacted our consumers, our business partners, and our employees.”
Continuing, Whitworth emphasized that AB InBev is a beer company, but again didn’t say the necessary other side of that, which is that a beer company shouldn’t be pushing transgenderism on people. He said, “We are a beer company, and beer is for everyone.”
He then went on to claim that Bud Ligh is “announcing three important actions as we continue to move our business forward.” However, those who hoped that at least one of those actions would be apologizing for the Mulvaney post will be disappointed, as that’s not at all what Bud Light is doing.
Instead, it is making vague investments to protect jobs, financially supporting wholesalers hit hard by the boycott, and refocusing advertising on the beer being tasty. Withwoth, announcing those three initiatives, said, “First, we are investing to protect the jobs of our frontline employees,” “Second, we are providing financial assistance to our independent wholesalers to help them support their employees,” and “Third, to all our valued consumers, we hear you. Our summer advertising launches next week, and you can look forward to Bud Light reinforcing what you’ve always loved about our brand – that it’s easy to drink and easy to enjoy.”
That last initiative is the closest to what people might have wanted from Bud Light, but the lack of an apology or even admission that putting Mulvaney on ads was a bad call was very telling.
Whitworth then added that “As we move forward, we will focus on what we do best – brewing great beer and earning our place in moments that matter to you.” Again, that’s close to what people might want to hear but misses the all-important apology and pledge not to do it again.
This latest statement echoed Whitworth’s mushy first statement on the situation in which he refrained from apologizing and instead made vague statements about patriotism and America meant to appeal to those boycotting Bud Light.
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