Former Anheuser-Busch executive urges current CEO to resign

Former Anheuser-Busch sales and distribution company president Anson Frericks has accused current beer company CEO Brendan Whitworth of failing, and continuing to fail, in the Bud Light scandal over trans woman Dylan Mulvaney. urged him to resign.

In a column in the Daily Mail, Mr. Frericks argued that Mr. Whitworth needs to step down before he does more damage to a brand that has already lost billions of dollars in market value.

All of this comes in the wake of Anheuser-Busch’s Bud Light brand having a transgender influencer as one of its spokespeople in April.

Frericks accused Whitworth of repeatedly bottling opportunities to turn his company around in response to the boycott, and told Anheuser-Busch’s current public relations that Whitworth would stay and “more”. He argued that it would be better for shareholders to force him to step down than to respond “innocently.” crisis.

Mr. Frericks said, “Mr. Whitworth has clearly demonstrated his inability to solve the Mulvaney crisis. He has had many chances and failed.”

The article began with Frericks pointing out the financial loss his former company suffered after partnering with Mulvaney. “In the end, the beer company’s decision to make trans activist Dylan Mulvaney the face of Bud Light resulted in a staggering $20 billion loss in market capitalization and counting,” he said. wrote.

He noted how Mulvaney criticized the beer brand in an Instagram post earlier this week. In that clip, the transgender influencer accused Bud Light of not showing enough support for Mulvaney amidst the backlash. “Ms Mulvaney did what Ms Whitworth should have done smarter a few weeks ago: cut ties,” Frericks said.

A former executive said Whitworth’s response to Mulvaney was “predictably weak and indecisive” and that the company “brews great beer for everyone, earning our place at a crucial moment for consumers.” We will focus on what we do best: do what we do best,” he said in a statement. ‘ meant ‘nothing at all’.

“It will only deepen the chasm between brands and customers,” Frericks added.

A former Anheuser-Busch executive declared: “Thus, while we are not pleased with this verdict, it is clear that the time has come for Anheuser-Busch shareholders and the board to demand Mr Whitworth’s resignation.”

He argued that CEOs should be held accountable because their business decisions affect others whose livelihoods depend on the brand’s success.

“So it is with a heavy heart that I write this, not out of malice, but of how and why corporate leaders managed a once-iconic American brand to fail so badly, and the process. “It’s important for Americans to understand why America sacrifices countless jobs and investment assets in the United States.”

Frericks then traced the timeline of the ongoing Mulvaney-Bud Light dispute, criticizing Whitworth’s sweeping attempts to resolve the issue.

For example, he said: “On April 14th, Whitworth made his first attempt to deal with a sales plunge with a flat corporate response without mentioning or apologizing for specific controversies. It made matters worse, fueling both customers who wanted an apology for the campaign and customers who were sympathetic to Mulvaney and wanted the company to stand up for the influencer.”

Former leader Anheuser-Busch also dismissed both responses Whitworth gave in June. Regarding Whitworth’s remarks made on June 16, he wrote: “But this statement is as bland as the first, with additional investment in Bud Light’s summer marketing campaign, support for frontline employees, and a call to consumers to say, ‘I’m listening to you.’ It just announced a few feeble clichés that say, ‘And to a more cheering future.’

After that remark, Frericks noted, “Bud Light subsequently posted its worst weekly sales since its partnership with Mulvaney.”

He further elaborated on statements made by the CEO during an interview with CBS Morning News on June 28, stating: “In his first public appearance since the CBS Morning News debacle, he was asked by the host if he wanted to send the cans to Mulvaney again or the cans.” . It was a softball question. He should have been belted out with his belt and kicked out of the park. “

Frericks added, “But in both cases he deflected with clearly rehearsed, evasive answers.” He should have said, ‘Of course it was a mistake. No, we don’t send cans anymore! “

He speculates that Whitworth made such an answer because he was “paralyzed by the forced adoption of ‘stakeholder’ capitalism by American corporations. This capitalism is , preaching to corporations why they should serve activists, politicians, non-governmental organizations and interest groups of all kinds, and in fact activists, politicians, non-governmental organizations and interest groups of all kinds. We must serve our shareholders and customers alike! “

And “Whitworth has clearly shown that he is incapable of solving the Mulvaney crisis. He has had many chances and failed. Now is the time for him to do the right thing and the sinking Bud. It’s time to make way for someone who can rebuild the Light Ship.”

Fox News Digital has contacted Bud Wright seeking a response to Frericks’ criticism and is awaiting a response.