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 ...
Yeah, thanks but that’s not my question: I’m curious as to its impact on the Honda Prelude brand, as I don’t find any sources on that.
How would one tell? The media suppressed it at the time.
The VP of marketing, the “lowly” employee responsible for this mess, said she intended to move the market image of bud away from current customers. She claimed they were unwanted “frat” people. She’s going for the pervert market.
He’s a really pitiful female pretender. lol
Do we sell beer or do we sell ___________________?
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