The marketing guru behind Budweiser’s famed ‘Whassup!‘ and ‘Talking Frogs‘ advertisements has slammed the company for destroying its reputation. The Telegraph has the story.
Robert Lachky, whose adverts in the 1990s helped Budweiser become America’s most popular beer, said two decades of work had been ruined over Bud Light’s Dylan Mulvaney fiasco.
“It took us 20 years to take Bud Light beer to the No 1 beer in the country and it took them one week to dismantle it,” Mr Lachky, Anheuser-Busch’s former chief creative officer, said.
Bud Light has faced a revolt by conservative activists after partnering with transgender social media influencer Mulvaney.
Sales have plummeted since Mulvaney, 26, shared videos of himself drinking from customised Bud Light cans with his own face depicted on them.
Mr. Lachky told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch that Bud Light had no one but itself to blame for its drop in popularity.
“It’s self-inflicted,” he said, adding that Anheuser-Busch suffered from “a complete lack of corporate oversight”. …
Executives have tried to bat away criticism by saying that Mulvaney was never actually partnered with them, despite his video including the hashtag #budlightpartner.
Michel Doukeris, Chief Executive of Anheuser-Busch Global, on Monday blamed “misinformation and disinformation” for spreading rumours that cans with Mulvaney’s face would be sold nationwide.
Mr Lachky told the New York Post that Bud Light was fanning the “flames on their own with their defensive comments”.
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