Alissa Heinerscheid--currently on leave as marketing Vice President of Anheuser-Busch--explained in a recent podcast interview, “I had this super clear mandate: We need to evolve and elevate this incredibly iconic brand.”
I don't know why Bud Light went into decline, but I can make an educated guess about why it formerly sold well: it offered the taste of beer with fewer calories. I assume the current market offers many alternatives to that desired goal. Heinerscheid's explanation (see her comments on the podcast; the Bud Light comments begin at 23:14) is that the brand had been sold on "fratty out of touch humor" and that "if we do not attract young drinkers" the "iconic brand" won't sell; she therefore wanted to sell it on "inclusivity."
But that's not how things sell, unless "inclusivity" means all things to all peoples--and it doesn't. "Inclusivity" is about as controversial and difficult-to-define a term as "woke."
A better way might have been to mount a campaign showing young people bonding over Bud Light--then using that to extend bonding in other areas. Instead, we got Dylan Mulvaney, trans influencer, whose "Days of Girlhood" portrayals of "my hiking heels" and of Eloise at the Plaza have nettled a number of viewers from a variety of political persuasions:
Dylan's quite the performer--her dance skills are extraordinary; her fey acting has a certain charm, although I always come away from her posts with the impression that she's deeply unhappy, despite all the money and style and attempts to look like a feminine fashion plate from the 1950s. The campy style itself suggests profound dissatisfaction. I think most trans persons who are happy with their lot want to get on with their lives, not be stared at. I get the need to make a bundle, but goodness, Dylan's made it.
The point is: her unhappiness comes through. In a commercial too. That's a number one reason for the failure of the commercial.
The second: people bond over what they already have in common--not over something making them feel uncertainty or discomfort. Or sometimes hatred.
A successful commercial might have shown young people bonding over the taste of Bud Light. Then, once that bond is secure, they bond over something else. The difficulty: all this must be accomplished in 48 seconds, if the Dylan Mulvaney spot is anything to go by. Silly me, I thought we had an entire 60 seconds!
So how about this: 30 seconds of lip-smacking over Bud light. Then 15 of a trans young man or woman walking in and saying, "Hey! Can I have some!" Then the critical next 3 seconds:
"Sure, Buddy!" says the top banana
"This is my bro, Tom!" says the second banana. Pop of can opening, sip, lip-smack. "He's trans."
"Great!" All three drink.
That might work. But whatever does work will have to start with what people already share--love of Bud Light in this case--not something that makes them feel unsure, or scared, or angry.
