News/Commentary

Former top exec says Anheuser-Busch CEO must step down for failing to right ‘sinking Bud Light ship’

July 2, 2023 | | Print Article

A former Anheuser-Busch president is now publicly urging current company president Brendan Whitworth to resign over the Bud Light controversy.

In a column for the Daily Mail published Saturday, former Anheuser-Busch president Anson Frericks implored Whitworth to resign now before the crisis grows even worse.

“Whitworth has clearly shown himself to be incapable of solving the Mulvaney crisis. He’s had multiple chances and he’s failed. It’s time he did the right thing and stepped aside to make way for someone capable of righting the sinking Bud Light ship,” he wrote.

Frericks began his column by blasting Whitworth for his response to transgender activist Dylan Mulvaney’s most recent comments.

As previously reported, last week Mulvaney published a TikTok video in which he slammed Bud Light for not having his back amid the ongoing controversy.

“I was waiting for the brand to reach out to me, but they never did. I’ve been scared to leave my house. For a company to hire a trans person and then not publicly stand by them is worse than not hiring a trans person at all,” Mulvaney said.

In response, Bud Light issued a statement saying the following: “As we move forward, we will focus on what we do best – brewing great beer for everyone and earning our place in moments that matter to our consumers.”

Frericks was not impressed by this “predictably weak and indecisive” statement.

“What does that mean? Absolutely nothing. And it will only deepen the chasm between the brand and its customers,” he wrote.

The problem for Bud Light is it’s been trying to play the center by appeasing both Mulvaney’s supporters and detractors instead of taking a side. But this has also made it so that both sides now despise the brand.

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With this in mind, Frericks continued his column by arguing that it’s vital that Whitworth be held accountable because his poor decisions have been costing the company both money and jobs.

“I write this with a heavy heart, not out of spite but because it’s important for Americans to understand how and why corporate leaders can bungle the management of once-iconic American brands so badly, sacrificing countless jobs and invested assets in the process,” he wrote.

Frericks then documented the timeline of the ongoing controversy and noted how Whitworth had failed at every step to respond accordingly.

“On April 14th, Whitworth made his first attempt at addressing plunging sales with a flat corporate response that neither mentioned the specific controversy, nor apologized for it,” he wrote.

“Instead of helping, it made things even worse: inflaming both the customers who wanted an apology for the campaign – and those who were sympathetic to Mulvaney and wanted to see the company defend the influencer,” he added.

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Frericks was equally critical of what Whitworth said on June 16th.

“[T]his statement, as bland as the first, only announced additional investments in Bud Light’s summer marketing campaign, support for front line employees and a few weak platitudes telling consumers ‘we hear you’ and ‘here’s to a future with more cheers,'” he wrote

“Bud Light subsequently experienced its worst weekly sales numbers since the Mulvaney partnership,” he added.

And lastly, Frericks slammed Whitworth’s June 28th interview on CBS News.

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“He made his first public appearance since the debacle on CBS Morning News where he was twice asked by hosts if he would send the can to Mulvaney again or if it had been a ‘mistake’. It was a softball question. He should have belted it out of the park,” he explained.

“Yet both times he deflected, with a clearly rehearsed and evasive answer. He should have said: ‘Of course, it was a mistake. No, we wouldn’t send the can again!’ But he didn’t,” according to the former AB president.

Why didn’t he? Because, according to Frericks, “he’s been paralyzed by corporate America’s forced adoption of ‘stakeholder’ capitalism, which preaches to companies about why they must serve activists, politicians, non-governmental organizations and all manner of interests – anyone really apart from their shareholders and customers!”

Think ESG.

“Historically, CEO’s focused on what really matters: creating great products and services. … But now, large asset managers, otherwise known as ‘The Big Three’ call the shots. Vanguard, BlackRock and State Street manage over $20 trillion. They’re the largest shareholders in most publicly traded companies,” Frericks wrote.

And they’re “also the key architects of ‘stakeholder’ capitalism.” The problem, of course, is they’re not the REAL shareholders.

“The real shareholders are the firefighters, police officers and doctors, whose life-savings – held in pensions and 401ks – are managed by these monster firms. These are ordinary Americans – who don’t care for virtue signaling and money wasting exercises,” Frericks wrote.

“They want the best for their families – and, really, they should feel entitled to demand a CEO who speaks for them; one who is prepared to say what is needed and make the big decisions,” he added.

And that CEO is NOT Whitworth, according to Frericks …

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Vivek Saxena
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