Bud Light’s partnership with TikTok celebrity influencer Dylan Mulvaney may go down in history as the most devastating own goal in marketing history.
Partnering with celebrity influencers was nothing new for Budweiser. So their VP of Marketing, Alissa Heinerscheid reckoned it could work for a beer with declining sales that, in her view, required a less “fratty” image. Since Bud Light had already proven itself supportive of LGBT causes, Heinerscheid had no reason to believe that the choice to partner with the “365 days of becoming a girl” celebrity would backfire. But, on April 1, when Mulvaney posted a photo of a custom-designed gift from Heinerscheid: a can of Bud Light with Mulvaney’s face on it, Budweiser’s troubles began. Heinerscheid is now on indefinite leave, a second other senior executive would soon follow.
