Fmr. Anheuser Busch Sales President: CEO Should Resign Over Bud Light Debacle Before 4th of July

The former President of Anheuser Busch Sales & Distribution Co., Mr. Anson Frericks, made waves on Saturday when he penned an Op-Ed for The Daily Mail stating that current CEO Brendon Whitworth "must quit NOW" before the "make or break" July 4th holiday. 

In the lengthy piece for The Daily Mail, Frericks excoriated the current Anheuser Busch leadership.

The former executive wrote,

"Heading into the U.S. beer market’s biggest sales week of the year, the Fourth of July holiday, Anheuser-Busch’s CEO Brendan Whitworth was no doubt hoping to put the recent turmoil behind him.

After all, the beer company's decision to make trans-activist Dylan Mulvaney the face of Bud Light has cost a staggering $20 billion – and counting – in lost market cap value.

This weekend is make or break.

Sadly, though, it looks like the battle has already been lost."

Curiously, Frericks credited the transgender Instagram personality at the center of the controversy, Dylan Mulvaney, with doing something that Anheuser Busch has categorically refused to do: "cut ties." This is in reference to a Thursday video in which Mulvaney criticized the beer maker saying, "For a company to hire a trans person and then not publicly stand by them is worse than not hiring a trans person at all."

The beverage company responded Friday with a non-statement that Frericks called "weak and indecisive," saying, "As we move forward, we will focus on what we do best – brewing great beer for everyone and earning our place in moments that matter to our consumers."

"What does that mean?" Frericks asked himself, answering, "Absolutely nothing. And it will only deepen the chasm between the brand and its customers."

He went on to describe the several opportunities that Whitworth had to salvage the situation and the milquetoast, 'safe' platitudinous manner in which he spectacularly failed before finally identifying the root of the beverage maker's woes. It has little to do with Whitworth himself, or indeed with the firm. It has everything to do with who is actually in charge at Anheuser Busch. 

Frerick explains,

"On June 28th, Whitworth had one last chance to hit the game-saving home run before the critical July 4th holiday.

He made his first public appearance since the debacle on CBS Morning News where he was twice asked by hosts if he would send the can to Mulvaney again or if it had been a ‘mistake’.

It was a softball question. He should have belted it out of the park.

Yet both times he deflected, with a clearly rehearsed and evasive answer.

He should have said: ‘Of course, it was a mistake. No, we wouldn't send the can again!’

But he didn’t. Why?

Because he’s been paralyzed by corporate America’s forced adoption of ‘stakeholder’ capitalism, which preaches to companies about why they must serve activists, politicians, non-governmental organizations and all manner of interests – anyone really apart from their shareholders and customers!"

"It wasn’t always this way," he began. "Historically, CEO’s focused on what really matters: creating great products and services. Certainly, any divisive political controversies that threatened sales were avoided or quickly neutralized. That way you can ensure more customers, more employees and more profits. It’s that simple."

He finally made the big reveal:

"But now, large asset managers, otherwise known as ‘The Big Three’ call the shots.

Vanguard, BlackRock and State Street manage over $20 trillion. They’re the largest shareholders in most publicly traded companies – and they were also the key architects of ‘stakeholder’ capitalism, with their now infamous ‘diversity and inclusion’ targets.

Whitworth and other CEOs like him are their mouthpieces.

But we must remember, ‘The Big Three’ are not the real shareholders."

Whitworth, according to Frericks, was and is powerless, as are so many corporate leaders, held in thralldom by the 'The Big Three.' They have yielded to activism and 'stakeholder' capitalism, at the expense of all else.

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