Boss of Bud Light marketing exec is ALSO placed on leave after backlash over partnership with trans influencer Dylan Mulvaney
- Daniel Blake, Anheuser-Busch vice president for mainstream brands, stepped back from his job following the controversial partnership with Dylan Mulvaney
- It comes after Bud Light’s VP of marketing Alissa Heinerscheid also took a leave of absence. Their decisions to step down were reportedly not voluntary
- Bud Light angered customers after partnering with Mulvaney to promote the beer
A senior executive at Anheuser-Busch has been placed on leave in the wake of the anger over Bud Light’s partnership with Dylan Mulvaney.
Daniel Blake, who is the Anheuser-Busch vice president for mainstream brands, has stepped back from his job just days after Bud Light’s VP of marketing Alissa Heinerscheid took a leave of absence.
Blake is Heinerscheid’s boss and the move highlights the turmoil at the multinational business, which is valued at more than $100 billion, over Bud Light’s deal with Mulvaney.
The company said the bosses ‘decided’ to temporarily step down, but their decisions were reportedly not voluntary.
‘Given the circumstances, Alissa has decided to take a leave of absence which we support. Daniel has also decided to take a leave of absence,’ the company said.
A second Bud Light senior executive in marketing has been placed on leave in the wake of the anger over their partnership with Dylan Mulvaney
Daniel Blake, who is the vice president for Anheuser-Busch’s mainstream brands has stepped back from his job, after controversy about Bud Light’s partnership with Dylan Mulvaney
Alissa Heinerscheid, the brand’s vice president of marketing, has taken a leave of absence, according to a report on Friday
Mulvaney, 26, had announced the partnership in a series of videos posted to social media at the start of April 2023 to coincide with the NCAA March Madness tournament. That was followed by a tie-up with Nike to promote its womenswear – which also triggered an angry response.
Blake is a nine-year veteran of Anheuser-Busch and oversaw marketing for both Bud Light and Budweiser.
A replacement wasn’t immediately announced. Heinerscheid’s job was taken over by Todd Allen, who recently served as global vice president of Budweiser.
Blake, who is based in New York, was promoted to group vice president of Anheuser-Busch’s mainstream brands in May 2022, according to his LinkedIn page. Before that, he was group VP of marketing for Budweiser and value brands.
Two months ago, he announced a ‘new era for Bud Light’ as he shared an article about the beer’s ‘sophisticated’ decision to feature a female main character in its Super Bowl ad.
A post to LinkedIn shortly before that opined on how ‘everyone is connected through the same American Spirit values and, of course, Budweiser’.
Before taking his current role, Blake also served as vice president of the company’s value brands.
Mulvaney (left) was sent a personalized beer can to mark 365 days since she transitioned. Mulvaney documented her journey on TikTok and gained millions of online followers
Blake is an alumni of the University of Virginia Darden School of Business and George Washington University.
Heinerscheid was hired to overhaul Bud Light’s marketing in June 2022 with the vision of freshening up its image.
But that took a disastrous turn on April 1 when the partnership with Mulvaney was announced, sparking a boycott and knocking $6 billion from the company’s value.
Heinerscheid’s team was responsible for Bud Light’s widely-lauded Super Bowl ad featuring Miles Teller and his wife Keleigh Sperry, and ‘the Bud Light Carry’ ad, which shows a woman carrying a round of beers to a table of friends without spilling a drop.
Those ads were part of Heinerscheid’s vision to make the brand more female friendly – something she has described as a ‘passion point’.
Mulvaney is a controversial trans activist with a mass following on social media, which proved to be a step too far for Bud Light’s loyal customers.
Kid Rock was among the first to criticize the partnership and lead a boycott, with other conservative consumers, distributors and suppliers following suit.
The 26-yea-old transgender activist announced the partnership in a now viral post included the hashtag ‘#budlightpartner’, and a caption that touted the cans as her ‘most prized possession’
The company tried to quash the backlash with a back-to-basics patriotic commercial featuring its iconic Clydesdale horses.
The one-minute spot was released on social media and featured shots of the iconic Clydesdales galloping across the country, in open fields, and past landmarks including the Lincoln Memorial and the New York City skyline.
A deep-voiced narrator said that Budweiser is ‘a story bigger than beer’ as the horses raced across the screen.
But customers said the ‘hard pivot’ was simply an effort to bury the controversy over the Mulvaney deal. Commentator Philip Holloway wrote: ‘Don’t look now Anheuser Busch and Budweiser but the Clydesdale has already left the barn. The train has sailed, the ship has left the station.’
Anheuser-Busch CEO Brendan Whitworth delivered a lackluster apology on April 14.
‘We never intended to be part of a discussion that divides people. We are in the business of bringing people together over a beer,’ said Whitworth in the statement.
He added: ‘My time serving this country taught me the importance of accountability and the values upon which America was founded: freedom, hard work and respect from one another.’
Whitworth also said ‘I care deeply about this country’.
Whitworth issued this public statement on Friday, two weeks into the controversy
Heinerscheid, the architect of the Mulvaney tie up, is a graduate of Wharton business school, and was hailed as the first woman to ‘lead’ Bud Light in its 41-year history.
On March 30, in an interview with the Make Yourself at Home podcast, she told of her strategy to ditch Bud Light’s ‘fratty’ reputation and embrace inclusivity to attract a young generation of drinkers.
In the turmoil that ensued, Bud Light’s parent company, Anheuser-Busch, issued a statement saying it supported the brand’s decision to work with Mulvaney, whose videos follow her journey.
‘Anheuser-Busch works with hundreds of influencers across our brands as one of many ways to authentically connect with audiences across various demographics,’ the rep said.
It added: ‘From time to time, we produce unique commemorative cans for fans and for brand influencers, like Mulvaney. This commemorative can was a gift to celebrate a personal milestone and is not for sale to the general public.’
Their doubling down only enraged angered customers more.
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