Do You Forgive Them? Anheuser-Busch Attempts To Make Amends, Gives Away Free Product To Angry Distributors Following Mulvaney Parternship

Just in case the situation wasn’t already bad enough for beer giant Anheuser-Busch, the company is now having to attempt to redeem itself and its relationships with distributors by giving away free products.

Anheuser-Busch has taken a notable drop in sales following their partnership with controversial transgender influencer Dylan Mulvaney, where they sent him custom-made cans with his likeness on them, as previously reported by the DC Enquirer. 

Since that partnership, the company has seen a value decrease of $5 billion in their stock value, as well as a 26% sales drop off in the week ending on April 22nd, as noted by the DC Enquirer. That same week, the sales of rival brands Coors Light and Miller Lite each grew about 21%, undoubtedly profiting from Bud Lights' blunder. 

The Wall Street Journal reported that the beer conglomerate would be attempting to make amends with its distributors. Anheuser said that it would be pledging to boost its marketing spending on Bud Light, accelerate the production of a new slate of ads, and give an entire case to every employee of an Anheuser-Busch wholesaler.

Nonetheless, distributors of the product are not happy with the current situation. Jeff Wheeler, vice president of Del Papa Distributing outside of Houston, Texas, said that he and his staff received “tons of phone calls from people being very hateful.”
With the increasing backlash, Del Papa had to resort to a Facebook post stating that Anheuser-Busch's choice of influencer was not within the control of the local distributor and that they were also “upset with this situation and have been vocal about it with the top leadership at Anheuser-Busch.”

Before the fiasco with Mulvaney, the vice president of marketing for Bud Light, Alissa Heinerscheid, said on a podcast that she was going to work to rebuild the image of Bud Light away from “a brand of fratty, of out of touch humor.” Heinerscheid has taken a leave of absence from the company following the backlash to the Mulvaney partnership. 

Even with the beer giant's attempt to deflect and rebuild, many people are calling for the boycott to continue. Tomi Lahren appeared on ‘Fox & Friends First,’ and said that “until they come out and actually acknowledge it head-on, conservatives are still going to be upset and will not be drinking Bud Light,” as reported by the DC Enquirer. 

Anheuser-Busch has undoubtedly paid the price for their attempt to shove an ideology down consumers' throats, and hopefully, they and other company executives will learn their lesson from patronizing their consumers.