Anheuser-Busch denied a report that it had fired Alissa Heinerscheid, the marketing VP behind Bud Light’s disastrous campaign with Dylan Mulvaney, and that she was “gone for good.”
Heinerscheid and the Group VP of Anheuser-Busch’s mainstream portfolio, Daniel Blake, were blamed for the ill-fated campaign with the transgender social media star and were said to be taking a leave of absence from as early as April.
However, a current regional head of marketing told The Daily Caller that Heinerscheid and Blake are actually “gone gone.”
The source, who was granted anonymity for discussing internal company policy, added: “To my understanding if we publicly announced the word ‘fire’ it opens up the potential for them to sue us. Thats why we said leave of absence.”
Heinerscheid was reportedly axed because “the wholesalers would have had an absolute HAY DAY with leadership if they didn’t remove her,” another source said.
The insider added that Blake “was actually awesome,” and suggested that his sacking wasn’t warranted.
“I think he was just caught in the crossfire. But also he did hire her… so that’s a fault,” the source said.
“Wholesalers were told they are both gone for good by leadership during in-person conversations. They already shifted all their direct reports to new people and the head of marketing,” the source added in text messages obtained by The Caller.
Anheuser-Busch has reportedly stayed silent on Heinerscheid and Blake’s employment status, according to The Caller.
The brewer did not immediately respond to noti.group’s request for comment.
Earlier this month, Heinerscheid, 39, refused to speak when approached by the Daily Mail for comment on the controversial marketing deal with Mulvaney.
Her friend cut in to explain that she couldn’t discuss the topic. “She’s not supposed to talk about it, she can’t,” the friend said before they moved on.
Bud Light and its parent company have hemorrhaged billions of dollars since the partnership went live on April 1, which saw Mulvaney touting a March Madness promotion while dolled up as Holly Golightly and then frolicking in a bubble bath in April.
In the week ending June 17, sales of Bud Light suffered their steepest weekly drop yet — an eye-popping 28.5% versus a year ago, according to the most recent sales figures issued by Bump Williams Consulting and NielsenIQ.
That eclipses last week’s 26.8% decline, which beat the previous week’s fall of 24.4%.
In the April post, Mulvaney also shared a custom Bud Light can the brand sent to her with her face on it to celebrate her “365 Day of Girlhood,” which sent the brand to the middle of a type of culture war.
Just days before Mulvaney published her videos, Heinerscheid gave an interview in which she described her efforts to move Bud Light away from a “fratty” and “out-of-touch” image and attract new customers with a more “inclusive” approach.
The Daily Caller later obtained photos the Bud Light exec posted on her now-deleted Facebook page partaking in the “fratty” behavior she criticized her employer for.
Heinerscheid was pictured blowing up condoms like balloons and downing beers during a 2006 “boozefest” as part of a campus scavenger hunt.
The photos appeared to have been taken during an event hosted by Harvard’s ISIS Club, a group founded to create a “safe social space for women” to socialize on campus.
In Bud Light’s latest 13th-hour effort to save face, the brand is giving beer away for the 4th of July with a $15 rebate on purchases of up to $15.
[Written in collaboration with other media outlets with information from the following sources]
