Hollywood legend James Woods discovered the reason for Bud Light’s disastrous marketing campaign that led to a boycott by a country music superstar, the brand being yanked from prominent bars and restaurants, people pouring the beer down drains, and a Kid Rock video that went viral and has been seen by 50 million people.
Woods saw a video of Bud Light’s vice president of marketing Alissa Heinerscheid and suggested the brand after Alissa let the cat out of the bag. James said: “Always easier to understand other people when they tell you who they are in their own words.”
And the Bud Light VP did just that and now it all makes sense. Heinerscheid says in the video below: “I’m a businesswoman, I had a really clear job to do when I took over Bud Light, and it was ‘This brand is in decline, it’s been in a decline for a really long time, and if we do not attract young drinkers to come and drink this brand there will be no future for Bud Light.”
“To evolve and elevate this incredibly iconic brand” we need “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.
Always easier to understand other people when they tell you who they are in their own words… #BudLight pic.twitter.com/7cNTTLzMQP
— James Woods (@RealJamesWoods) April 10, 2023
“Representation is sort of at the heart of evolution, you have got to see people who reflect you in the work.”
“We had this hangover, I mean Bud Light had been kind of a brand of fratty, kind of out of touch humor, and it was really important that we had another approach,” she said.
According to The Daily Mail:
Although Heinerscheid says the Bud Light brand is on the wane, it remains the flagship beer of parent company Anheuser-Busch InBev.
The Belgian multinational, the world’s largest brewer, saw its profits rise above expectations to more than 7 percent in the last quarter of 2023.
It reported last month its core profit – earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation – was $4.95 billion.
Heinerscheid previously worked as a marketing guru at AB InBev before moving to take the helm as Bud Light’s vice president in July last year.
Her LinkedIn profile proudly states that she is the ‘first female to lead the largest beer brand in the industry.’
Heinerscheid previously worked at Johnson and Johnson as a brand manager for Listerine mouthwash. Prior to this she was on the marketing team for Cheerios.
She was educated at the $60,000-per-year Groton School in Massachusetts before going on to Harvard where she studied English literature and then business school at Wharton where she took a master’s degree in marketing.
Kid Rock started off the boycott with a viral post that has been viewed over 50 million times. He said:
“Grandpa is feeling a little frisky today. Let me say something to you all as clear and concise as possible,” before turning his back to the camera and firing off a few rounds at some Bud Light beer cases.
He ended with:
“F*ck Bud Light and f*ck Anheuser Bush. Have a terrific day.”
— KidRock (@KidRock) April 4, 2023
