TFM
Bud Light has been in headlines for a few weeks now. You’d think one of the most popular beers in America would be content dominating the industry simply by being available and cheap for everyone 18 and over. Instead, they have decided that all press is good press, so they were going to do what they needed to get people talking. The first thing they did to put themselves in the headlines was begin a campaign that featured trans actor Dylan Mulvaney on their cans. The internet got awfully fired up about this, with Kid Rock most famously shooting several cases of Bud Light with an assault rifle. Apparently, this new-look Bud Light doesn’t fall under the, “trying different things” category for the All Summer Long singer.
Honestly, I couldn’t be bothered to care about this situation. This is simply just another example of companies attempting to cash in on woke culture. Also, I prefer my beer out of a glass anyway, so the image on the can didn’t affect me. This was until the beautiful mind behind this campaign decided she wasn’t done making headlines. Alissa Heinerscheid, VP of Marketing at Bud Light, hopped on a podcast so boring the name isn’t worth learning and talked about the need for Bud Light to change their marketing. She said the company’s brand was “fratty” and “out-of-touch”, and said the company would focus on inclusivity in the future. This was also days before she removed pictures of herself getting drunk and blowing up condoms like balloons at a festival called “Boozefest” during her time at Harvard.
This is the issue that I have with Bud Light this week. Clearly, Miss Heinerscheid has been spending a little too much time on Twitter and she forgot her roots. First of all, any beer company should be thrilled to have the “fratty” audience she claims is an issue. Produce companies don’t complain about vegans dominating their sales. That would be crazy. Beyond that, the hypocrisy from Heinerscheid to cite frat culture as a problem while also clearly having her fair share of experience in it is an attack the way I see it. She frames the culture of getting messed up with your friends as problematic, which is total bullshit. The culture she cites as the problem is one of the most diverse groups there is. Sure, there are frats with a higher percentage of white kids than a Hitler youth camp, but most of the time it’s as diverse of a social situation as a young adult can find. What inclusivity should look like for Bud Light is college kids of all races sharing Bud Lights in a sticky, dimly lit basement.
I’m not even in a fraternity and I was offended by this. After all of the financial support my peers and I have given that company via our parent’s credit cards has kept them atop the industry for years. How do we get repaid? By becoming the villain in this story of course. I want to take action about this, but I also still want to drink the eight Bud Light’s in my fridge tonight. Whatever. Heinerscheid, you’re welcome for the sales, you pandering coward.
Insulting and alienating the people who already buy your product in an attempt to gain a few new customers by pandering to less than 1% of the adult population by featuring a person who apparently thinks the way to act like a woman is something resembling Audrey Hepburn on meth. And this woman is a VP of marketing. Let that sink in.