After a seemingly harmless plug for Bud Light on transgender influencer Dylan Mulvaney's Instagram back in April, Anheuser-Busch InBev (BUDFF) suddenly found itself facing a full-blown PR nightmare.
Since then, its coped with everything from plummeting sales to criticism from high-profile billionaires such as Mark Cuban and Kevin O' Leary. The brand also lost its spot as the #1 best-selling beer in America for the past 20 years, replaced by Modelo.
READ MORE: The Bud Light Transgender Controversy and Its Impacts Explained
You'd think the best thing to do in a situation like this would be to keep your head down and wait for the hubbub to subside. But instead, Anheuser-Busch CEO Brendan Whitworth has spoken out in an exclusive interview with CBS Mornings, saying that the company "will continue to support the LGBTQ community."
While Whitworth did claim personal responsibility for the blowup, he avoided answering the question about what the company's intention was in engaging Mulvaney, saying that "it was just one can," which does not match the quantity of cans Mulvaney showed off in the original video she posted.
Whitworth also said that Bud Light has supported LGBTQ+ for 25 years and that the company will "continue to support the communities and organizations we've supported for decades."
CBS countered by mentioning that Anheuser-Busch has also donated to anti-LGBTQ causes.
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The Twitter response to the interview was not positive, with folks both on the left and right annoyed with Whitworth's comments.
In another effort to redirect the conversation and appease its angry customers, Anheuser-Busch also released a new commercial on June 28 titled "That's Who We Are," which interestingly enough, had its comments section disabled.
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