It started as a ‘woke’ marketing campaign, evolved into a fiasco, became a disaster and has now taken a human toll as people lose their jobs..Two glass bottling plants in Louisiana and North Carolina are shutting down due to the precipitous sales decline of Bud Light, putting more than six hundred people out of work, according to WRAL in Raleigh, NC..An internal memo from the Wilson, NC plant manager obtained by WRAL News dated May 18 says, “Due to slow sales with Anheuser-Busch InBev, two of the factory's production lines would be shutting down.”.“The plants’ owner, the Ardagh group, announced it would be shutting down the factory in mid-July, laying off close to 400 employees,” reports WRAL, adding the plant in Ruston, LA, would also close at a cost of 245 jobs..According to the news outlet, multiple longtime employees at the Wilson plant say most of their business was making bottles for Budweiser and Bud Light..Meanwhile, as Rome burns, so to speak, and Anheuser-Busch management is still fiddling with failed fixes, the former president of Anheuser-Busch Sales and Distribution Company, Anson Frericks, has urged the company’s CEO, Brendan Whitworth, to step down from his position..In a column for The Daily Mail, Frericks chronicled Anheuser-Busch's missteps following the rollout of the Dylan Mulvaney marketing campaign on April 1, up to comments made by Mulvaney about being abandoned by Bud Light..Last week, Mulvaney blasted the company for failing to reach out to the trans influencer after the failed marketing campaign..In the column, Frericks wrote, “Anheuser-Busch’s response was predictably weak and indecisive: 'As we move forward, we will focus on what we do best, brewing great beer for everyone and earning our place in moments that matter to our consumers.’”.“What does that mean?” asked Frericks in the column. “Absolutely nothing. And it will only deepen the chasm between the brand and its customers.”.“As such, and I take no pleasure in passing this judgement, it's clear to me that it's time for the shareholders and board of Anheuser-Busch to ask Whitworth to step down.”.Frericks mentioned he and Whitworth worked together at the company and had a good relationship, with the latter promoting him to company president in 2021..“So, I write this with a heavy heart, not out of spite but because it’s important for Americans to understand how and why corporate leaders can bungle the management of once-iconic American brands so badly, sacrificing countless jobs and invested assets in the process.”.“More importantly, I write because those leaders must be seen to take responsibility when things go so badly wrong.”.He noted Whitworth had a chance “to hit the game-saving home run before the critical July 4 holiday by appearing on CBS Morning News, where he was asked twice if he would send a can of Bud Light to Mulvaney, or if it had been a mistake.”.“He should have said: ‘Of course, it was a mistake. No, we wouldn't send the can again!’”.But he didn’t and Frericks believes he knows why..“Because he’s been paralyzed by corporate America’s forced adoption of ‘stakeholder’ capitalism, which preaches to companies about why they must serve activists, politicians, non-governmental organizations and all manner of interests, anyone really apart from their shareholders and customers!” he wrote..Frericks says it’s a change from the days when management focused on “what really matters: creating great products and services” adding political commentaries that could harm sales were avoided or quickly neutralized..“That way, you can ensure more customers, more employees and more profits. It’s that simple.”.Now, large asset managers, known as ‘The Big Three’ call the shots, says Frericks..“Vanguard, BlackRock and State Street manage over $20 trillion. They’re the largest shareholders in most publicly traded companies and they were also the key architects of ‘stakeholder’ capitalism, with their now infamous ‘diversity and inclusion’ targets,” wrote Frericks..He said Whitworth and other CEOs are just mouthpieces for The Big Three, who are not the real shareholders..“The real shareholders are the firefighters, police officers and doctors, whose life-savings, held in pensions and 401ks, are managed by these monster firms,” he wrote. “These are ordinary Americans who don't care for virtue signalling and money-wasting exercises.”.“They should feel entitled to demand a CEO who speaks for them; one who is prepared to say what is needed and make the big decisions.”.Whitworth, wrote Frericks, has proven himself incapable of solving the Mulvaney crisis and despite having had multiple chances, he has failed..He ends his column by writing, “It's time he did the right thing and stepped aside to make way for someone capable of righting the sinking Bud Light ship.”
