The Bud Light senior marketing executive behind the controversial Dylan Mulvaney ad campaign has taken a leave of absence, based on a report.
Alissa Heinerscheid, vice chairman of selling for the favored beer, shall be replaced by Budweiser global marketing VP Todd Allen, AdAge reported on Friday.
Heinerscheid has led the brand since June. It’s unclear if her substitute shall be everlasting.
The move comes as Bud Light and its parent company Anheuser-Busch have faced immense backlash for its partnership with Mulvaney, a transgender influencer who rose to fame chronicling her gender transition on social media.
On the conclusion of Mulvaney’s transition she dubbed “365 Days of Girlhood,” the beer maker sent the activist custom-made can’s featuring her face, which she revealed in an April 1 Instagram post with the hashtag #budlightpatner. She later posted one other video having fun with one among the beers in a tub.
A day before Mulvaney announced the partnership, Heinerscheid was interviewed on the podcast “Make Yourself At Home,” where she discussed her work in transforming the Bud Light brand from its “fratty” and “out of touch” humor to a beer company that embraces inclusivity.
Alissa Heinerscheid has taken a leave of absence after Bud Light’s partnership with transgender influencer Dylan Mulvaney sparked outrage.Anheuser-Busch
Mulvaney announced her partnership with the beer on April 1.Dylan Mulvaney/Instagram
“I’m a businesswoman, I had a extremely clear job to do once I took over Bud Light, and it was ‘This brand is in decline, it’s been in a decline for a extremely very long time, and if we don’t attract young drinkers to return and drink this brand there shall be no future for Bud Light,‘” Heinerscheid said.
She said she brought “belief” to the brand that to evolve and elevate means to include “inclusivity, it means shifting the tone, it means having a campaign that’s truly inclusive, and feels lighter and brighter and different, and appeals to women and to men.”
She also disparaged the work of Bud Light’s past branding.
Bud Light sent the 26-year-old trans influencer beer cans featuring her face.Dylan Mulvaney/Instagram
Heinerscheid shall be replaced by Budweiser global marketing VP Todd Allen.Todd Allen/Linked In
“We had this hangover, I mean Bud Light had been type of a brand of fratty, type of out-of-touch humor, and it was really essential that we had one other approach,” she said.
After her comments went viral amid the controversy, critics called Heinerscheid a hypocrite when photos surfaced appearing to point out the exec having fun with the “fratty” culture she dismissed while a student at Harvard.
Heinerscheid was mocked after images on her now-deleted Facebook page showed her at a campus scavenger hunt, blowing up condoms like balloons, and downing beers during a 2006 “boozefest.”
Despite the immediate backlash from the partnership with Mulvaney, Bud Light initially defended the move before later offering a half-hearted apology to its loyal customers last week.
“We never intended to be a part of a discussion that divides people,” Anheuser-Busch InBev CEO Brendan Whitworth said in a press release. “We’re within the business of bringing people together over a beer.”
Within the weeks after Bud Light’s partnership with Mulvaney, Anheuser-Busch saw its value plummet greater than $5 billion.
