Alissa Heinerscheid, Bud Light’s vice president of marketing, has taken a furlough after the beer brand was criticized and boycotted by far-right personalities for its collaboration with transgender TikTok star Dylan Mulvaney.
Heinerscheid, who has led the brand since last June, will be succeeded by Budweiser’s vice president of global marketing, Todd Allen, according to US marketing magazine Ad Age.
Bud Light and Anheuser-Busch (the brewer’s parent company) have faced a ‘tsunami’ of backlash for their association with the trans activist and influencer, popular for her ‘365 Days of Girlhood’ video series, which chronicles the first year of your transition.
“If we don’t attract young drinkers to come and drink this brand, there will be no future for Bud Light,” Heinerscheid explained last month. “What does ‘evolve and elevate’ mean? It means inclusion. It means changing the tone. It means having a campaign that is truly inclusive and feels lighter, brighter and different, and that appeals to women and men,” said the head of marketing.
The controversy broke out on April 1 with the publication of a promotional video on Dylan Mulvaney’s Instagram account. He appeared with a Bud Light in his hand, very grateful for having received a personalized can with her face to celebrate the first anniversary of his gender transition.
“I celebrate my 365 days living as a woman and Bud Light has sent me the best gift in the world,” she said with a smile. The 26-year-old actress has a low-key notoriety but for having openly described her transition process and championed LGBT rights she has become the target of scorn from conservatives.
In recent weeks, well-known faces on the American right have made calls to stop buying Bud Light, the best-selling in the country and with which they historically felt strongly identified. Some of them posted pictures destroying Bud Light cans or bottles.
The executive became the first woman to lead Bud Light in the brand’s 40-year history and was recognized by Ad Age magazine in 2022 as one of the 40 Rising Stars Under 40 in Marketing, Advertising and Media.
She was promoted to her current role after nearly eight years at Anheuser-Busch in various marketing roles, including a recent stint as vice president of direct-to-consumer marketing, which includes e-commerce.
He created the position of vice president of Bud Light Blue, which references the parent brand, and pitched it to a senior Anheuser-Busch executive in a 30-page speech. He came after nearly four years of working at Bud Light, including overseeing the 2019 Game of Thrones Super Bowl commercial.
According to the criteria of The Trust Project
