Anheuser-Busch Chief Executive Michel Doukeris projects a pretty chill attitude while the company deals with the fallout of its decision to partner with the transgender social-media influencer Dylan Mulvaney.
That small social-media campaign for Bud Light, which was an effort to expand the brand's audience in the LGBTQ+ community, led to a massive backlash. That was led by the singer-songwriter Kid Rock, who posted a Twitter video of himself shooting up cases of the beer.
And the Bud Light controversy isn't just about Mulvaney. The executive who'd been vice president for the brand, Alissa Heinerscheid, called its drinkers "fratty" and said in a podcast appearance that its marketing had used "kind of out-of-touch humor."
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In addition to boycotts over the Mulvaney promotion (and perhaps the Heinerscheid comments), Anheuser-Busch (BUD) -) has faced pushback from the LGBTQ+ community over its lack of support for Mulvaney.
This mess has seen Bud Light sales drop close to 30% while the boycott has also affected other company brands.
That should have Doukeris worried -- but he hardly seemed concerned at all during the brewer's recent first-quarter-earnings call.
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Budweiser CEO Does Not See Sales Drops as a Big Deal
During the call Doukeris spoke extensively about Bud Light's issues, and he started by trying to minimize the Mulvaney promotion.
"Let me start by clarifying a few facts," he said. "This was the result of one can. It was not made for production or sale to the general public. It was one post, not a formal campaign or advertisement."
The CEO made clear that the company remains committed to the brands.
"Bud Light is very important to our U.S. business, and I would never minimize the situation," he said. "However, seeing the context of our global company provides perspective."
Basically, Doukeris said that the company was big enough that it could weather the current storm.
"The Bud Light volume decline in the U.S. over the first three weeks of April, as publicly reported, would represent around 1% of our overall global volumes for that period," he said.
"With this perspective, and in the context of our global business, we believe we have the experience, the resources, and the partners to manage this. And our full-year Ebitda growth outlook is unchanged."
Anheuser-Busch Wants Business as Usual
Doukeris and his team have seemed to take a "pretend it never happened" approach to both the Mulvaney fallout and the pushback over the Heinerscheid comments.
The company has returned to ads that reflect its traditional vibe, and its social-media posts -- after a period where the company mostly went silent -- have gone back to business as usual.
"As to Bud Light, we have significantly increased our investments behind the brands in the U.S., including tripling our media spend over the summer," Doukeris said.
The CEO does not acknowledge it, but he's in a tough position. He can't apologize for the Mulvaney promotion just because some of his customer base was outraged by it. He understands that apologizing would create a new, maybe even bigger, set of problems, so he has been working to just sort of power through and fall back on the company's traditional playbook.
"Now let's talk about our consumers," he said. "We continue to be committed to the programs and partnerships that we have forged over decades with our consumers and with organizations that represent a wide range of communities where we operate. We work every day to delight our consumers and bring people together. When we do this well, our brands perform."
There's not a lot of substance to those comments, but Doukeris has few options beyond trying to fall back on generic language about the magic of his company's products.
"Beer is an essential part of life's meaningful moments, whether in sports, music, or celebrations. These are moments that bring people together, and this is why I love beer," he added. "While beer will always be at the table when important topics are debated, the beer itself should not be the focus of the debate."
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