Semi-Denouement For Bud Light

This moirning's news was full of gleeful headlines that the horsefaced and sublimely self-satisfied Alissa Heinerscheid, late brand marketing VP for Bud Light, is on leave of absence:

Anheuser-Busch has shared a statement with Beer Business Daily, informing the publication that Bud Light marketing VP Alissa Heinerscheid is off the brand in the wake of the Mulvaney Bud Light can controversy.

“We understand she has decided to take a leave of absence,” Beer Business Daily announced. “Todd Allen is now VP of Bud Light, reporting directly to CMO Benoit Garbe. It appears Todd was most recently VP of global marketing for Budweiser.”

However, I posted a week ago that Alissa was already out, and that she'd deleted her LinkedIn profile was a good indication. I suspect that she hadn't been in to the office since the Dylan Mulvaney story broke. But let's read some other tea leaves here. The story says, “Todd Allen is now VP of Bud Light. . . . It appears Todd was most recently VP of global marketing for Budweiser.”

That says to me that Todd has been demoted, and he's been told to fix Bud Light fast or else. I think the next head to roll will be Brendan Whitworth, the show horse CEO of Anheuser. A couple of weeks ago, the talk was that Dylan Mulvaney was the biggest marketing blunder since New Coke, but I think it's becoming clearer that Dylan Mulvaney is the biggest marketing blunder since marketing even became a thing, whenever that was.

That Anheuser would make such an announcement, in even this offhand way, is an indication that they've begun to get the message, and what was needed was a firing. But the other thing that's needed by general consensus is a specific apology. I assume Todd Allen has the task of working this out in a way that satisfies both the suits and the public, or he'll be the next to go. But I think some sort of semi-specific apology will be the next step, followed by an announcement on Mr Whitworth's plans.

And one of my favorite topics has been the Fringe TV series and how it's a sendup of Harvard, which gave us Timothy Leary and Ted Kaczynski, a blend of which characters the actor John Noble brilliantly portrays in Dr Walter Bishop. But Harvard has more recently brought us Ms Heinerscheid and Mr Whitworth. Indeed, Mr Whitworth was formed as well in the CIA.

It isn't helpful to gloat, but at least in this one inning, it's plebs 1, toffs 0.