Posted on 04/15/2023 6:42:41 PM PDT by Morgana
Anheuser-Busch's handling of backlash to its Bud Light brand partnership with transgender influencer Dylan Mulvaney has been branded a historically-bad marketing gaffe by a leading expert.
In a Bloomberg Opinion column on Saturday, advertising and brands expert Ben Schott called the Bud Light imbroglio 'a marketing case study for the ages' in 'how not to handle brand collaborations in a dangerously polarized space.'
Schott ranked the incident alongside infamous brand 'gaffes' in history, such as the chairman of Barilla pasta's 2013 declaration that he 'would never do a commercial with a homosexual family'.
And in 2006, the CEO of Abercrombie and Fitch notoriously said the company only wanted 'cool' and 'attractive' customers, saying, 'Are we exclusionary? Absolutely.'
'But Bud Light's action is worse than a gaffe, it's a betrayal,' wrote Schott, noting that the brand retreated into 'cowardly' silence, leaving Mulvaney high and dry, as the controversy exploded online and in bars across the country.
'Bud Light actively and eagerly sought out a controversial influencer in a dangerously polarized space, with neither the wisdom to plan for a backlash nor the bravery to stand by its partner,' he wrote.
Schott was sympathetic to Mulvaney - but condemned Bud Light for choosing to use the star for a campaign, then abandon her when the going got tough.
(Excerpt) Read more at dailymail.co.uk ...
No body at AB has reversed course.
Telling.
The CEO is former CIA...What would anyone expect?
But the CEO made such a genuine and forceful statement.
But they rallied the GOP and Don Jr to defend them.
And the horse faced a$$ still has a job.
Don Jr. should be out at the range sighting in on Bud Lights.
Nothing beats the classic coke fiasco.
I’m waiting for that to backfire on Don JR
It won’t. Cultists will pivot to protect him soon.
I think this just did. Coke is still around. This may have ended Budweiser
I still don’t see bud lights sales going up
This guy gets it right, but hes wrong on Barilla. Barilla has reached new heights and dominance in sales.
BUD WILL BE SHED!
Never doing a commercial with a homosexual “family” was a gaffe?
fu Schott
> And the horse faced a$$ still has a job. <
That woman wins either way. If they don’t fire her, the big paychecks will keep on coming in.
And if she does get fired, she’ll get an enormous amount of severance pay. After all, in Budweiser’s eyes, she did nothing wrong. This dust-up is all the fault of backward rednecks and hillbillies.
“her”? I’m so old fashioned that I don’t know if that’s correct, a faux pas or a criminal act. What is this person claiming to be?
If Bud Lite was a great — or even a good beer — it MIGHT one day live this down. But, it’s not. It’s undistinguished weak piss-water, easily replaced.
The band will ultimately die off. It will not be missed.
Bud Lite is for people who really don’t like beer, and only have a beer at all to be friendly.
A classic case of relying upon someone with training in marketing but no experience with the product they’re trying to sell and no familiarization with the consumers who buy that product.
“use the star for a campaign, then abandon her”
They just won’t give up.
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