Bud Light's marketing VP takes 'leave of absence' after Dylan Mulvaney campaign

Bud Light’s marketing executive who oversaw the partnership between the beer company and the transgender influencer Dylan Mulvaney took a "leave of absence" after the campaign received an unprecedented amount of criticism. 

The St. Louis based company's vice president of marketing, Alissa Heinerscheid, was behind the controversial partnership between the beer and Mulvaney, who has more than 10.8 million followers on social media. As part of their partnership, Bud Light released cans with her face on them as part of the beer company’s March Madness campaign.

The decision has caused a backlash on social media and prompted many others to boycott Anheuser-Busch, particularly from individuals who say they do not approve of the “woke” direction that the country is going in. 

Last week, Anheuser-Busch, Bud Light’s parent company, reported that it had lost almost $5 million in value after announcing the campaign. The drink company’s stocks in the United States are down 1.8%. 

Heinerscheid will be replaced by Todd Allen, who was the recent global vice president of Budweiser, according to Beer Business Daily. 

A spokesperson for Anheuser-Busch did not confirm Heinersheid’s leave of absence but did say that Allen will report directly to the company’s U.S. chief marketing officer, Benoit Garbe. 

Heinsersheid’s team was responsible for Bud Light’s famous Super Bowl ad featuring Miles Teller and his wife Kaleigh Sperry, as well as the “Bud Light Carry” ad, which portrays a woman carrying beers around a table without spilling a drop. 

Heinerscheid, a graduate of Wharton business school, said she was attempting to update Bud Light’s “fratty” and “out of touch” humor by making the brand more inclusive and “elevated.” 

"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,'" Heinerscheid said in an interview.