Anheuser-Busch’s US CEO dodged multiple questions during a Wednesday TV interview about whether Bud Light’s ill-fated partnership with Dylan Mulvaney was a mistake — and whether the company might work with the transgender influencer again.
Grilled about whether the brewery had blundered in aligning the No. 1 selling beer in the US with Mulvaney, Brendan Whitworth told “CBS Mornings” that “just to be clear, it was a gift and it was one can.”
The CBS hosts then pressed Whitworth several times for a direct answer on whether Anheuser-Busch would send Mulvaney a can of Bud Light with Mulvaney’s image to the influencer again and where the company stands on “queer rights.”
In response, Whitworth appeared determined to keep it vague and noncommittal.
“There’s a big social conversation going on right now,” he said. “It’s moved away from beer,” and “Bud Light doesn’t belong in this divisive conversation.”
Whitworth also pointed to the company’s 25-year history of supporting the LGBTQ community and said “We will continue to support the communities and organizations that we have supported for decades.”
The hosts meanwhile pressed Whitworth on why Anheuser-Busch has given donations to anti-LGBTQ politicians.
“We support politicians who support our business and allow us to grow,” Whitworth responded.
The former marine and operations officer with the CIA has held the top job at Anheuser-Busch for two years. Whitworth, 46, said the controversy and its impact “is my responsibility” and that “everything we do I’m accountable for.”
Anheuser-Busch is investing three times the amount on the Bud Light brand this year, Whitworth said Wednesday. The executive also said that the company is giving financial support to its distributors.
“Money has gone out,” already, he said.
Anheuser-Busch has previously tried to distance itself from the April 1 social media posts by Mulvaney that ignited a firestorm against Bud Light and its parent company – and that has dragged down its sister brands, including Budweiser and Michelob Ultra.
This week, data showed that Bud Light’s sales are recently suffering their steepest drops yet since the controversy broke, with sales for the week ended June 20 down 28.5% from a year ago.
Early in the controversy, the company did not disavow its partnership with Mulvaney, explaining that it was one of many such promotional partnerships meant to “authentically connect with audiences across various demographics and passion points,” a spokesperson said in a statement.
Anheuser-Busch’s 65,000 employees and distributors are on the front lines of the backlash, including being mocked and threatened with car horns, cursing, and a declining income as sales of the brewery’s brands keep falling.
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