Bad Light's senior marketing manager, who is behind Dylan Mulvaney's controversial ad campaign, has reportedly taken a leave of absence.
AdAge announced Friday that Todd Allen, Budweiser's vice president of global marketing, will replace Alyssa Heinerscheid, vice president of popular beer marketing.
Heinerscheid has been running the brand since June. It's unclear if his replacement will be permanent.
The move comes at a time when Bud Light and its parent company Anheuser-Busch were facing backlash over their partnership with Mulvaney, a transgender influencer who rose to prominence on social media during a transitional period due to her gender identity.
Towards the end of Mulvaney's transition, which he calls "365 days of childhood," the brewery sent the brewer a special glass of his face, which he showed off in an April 1 Instagram post with the hashtag #budlightpatner. He later released another video of him enjoying a beer in the shower.
The day before announcing the partnership with Mulvain, Heinerscheid was interviewed on the Make Yourself at Home podcast, where he spoke about his work in transforming the Bud Light brand from a "fragile" humor and "definitely" beer company, which includes Beer companies own. . Recording
"I'm a businesswoman and I had a very clear mission when I took on Bud Light and it was, 'This brand is going to die, it's going to die for a long time, and if we don't get the youth involved. People who "This branded drink, Bud Light, has no future," Heinerscheid said.
She says she brings "faith" to a brand that's growing and thriving, which means "launching it, changing the tone, running campaigns that are truly inclusive, light, bright, different, that speak to women and men. Talk to both." " " "
He also criticized Bud Light's branding work to date.
"We had this hangover, I mean Bad Light is edgy, sensitive humor and it was really important for us to have a different perspective," he said.
After his comments sparked controversy, critics called Heinerscheid a hypocrite after photos surfaced of the manager enjoying the "dirty" culture he gave up as a Harvard student.
Heinerscheid was mocked for photos on his now-deleted Facebook page in 2006 of him blowing up condoms like balloons and throwing beer at a "drunk party".
Despite the immediate backlash over the Mulvaney partnership, Bud Light initially defended the move, then last week issued an unreserved apology to its loyal customers.
"We never wanted to engage in divisive discussions," said Brendan Whitworth, CEO of Anheuser-Busch InBev, in a press release. "Our job is to bring people together to drink beer."
Within weeks of Bud Light's partnership with Mulvaney, Anheuser-Busch's value had dropped by more than $5 billion.
