A top executive at Anheuser-Busch left the company after the company’s Bud Light ‘brand crisis.’
Anheuser-Busch InBev’s studio chief departed the company and cited the Bud Light backlash as one reason why, she confirmed this week.
In April, Bud Light faced significant backlash and a boycott when it released personalized beer cans that feature a transgender social media influencer and activist. In the meantime, sales of the beer have dropped for consecutive weeks and appear to show no signs of abating.
Lauren Denowitz, the now-former studio head, wrote on social media that she has left the firm’s division and made note of the company’s branding “crisis.”
“With the Bud Light situation earlier this year, the company experienced its largest brand crisis in its several-hundred-year history. The impacts are being felt far and wide,” she wrote on LinkedIn, adding that the firm is “prioritizing resourcing shorter-term impact initiatives versus longer-lead-time strategic bets like brand entertainment.”
“While I am disappointed that a promising initiative with such momentum was cut short, I am incredibly grateful for the opportunity I was given,” Ms. Denowitz said.
The Epoch Times has contacted Anheuser-Busch for comment Friday. A company spokesperson told Business Insider that the firm would continue to work in the entertainment field but provided no further details about why she departed.
Sales Down
In a conference call with investors earlier this week, CEO Michel Doukeris appeared to address the controversy by saying that “consumers continue to want the Bud Light brand to concentrate on the platforms that all consumers love, and we are doing just that through investing in partnerships with the NFL, Fields of Honor, news platforms, college football, and our recently announced return to partnering with the UFC. Two, they want Bud Light to focus on beer,” according to a transcript.
“They want that beer without a debate. We are taking the feedback and working hard toward our consumers’ business every day across the world,” Mr. Doukeris added, echoing comments he made weeks after the controversy erupted earlier this year.
