Ex-Anheuser-Busch President Claims ‘Woke’ Companies Have a Long ‘Road to Recovery’

Bud Light's parent is one of several companies that were boycotted in 2023 after partnering with a homosexual influencer 

By Edward Era Barbacena 

A former executive of Bud Light's parent company, Anheuser-Busch InBev, earlier this week predicted that companies embracing "woke" ideals will have a tough time winning back spurned consumers.

Anheuser-Busch is still reeling from backlash over its social media advertisement during March Madness, which featured American homosexual TikTok influencer Dylan Mulvaney . Conservatives from Congress members to Kid Rock and Joe Rogan slammed the brand, sparking outrage and boycotts.

Bud Light's sales fell steeply amid the controversy, its stock plummeted and the brand lost its title as America's top-selling beer by dollar sales. Anheuser-Busch's revenue fell 13.5% for the quarter that ended Sept. 30. Company CEO Michel Doukeris told investors Tuesday that the falloff was, "primarily due to volume decline in Bud Light."

The company's stock has mostly recovered since then, but the lessons from the Bud Light controversy have not been lost on other firms.

“People are seeing that when companies get involved in these social and political issues that have nothing to do with their mission and their stock price plummets — that’s bad for these companies,” Anson Frericks, an ex-president of Anheuser-Busch sales and distribution and a vocal critic of corporate environmental, social and governance policies , told FOX Business on Tuesday.

"I think the road to recovery is a long one for a lot of these companies that have gotten involved in these sort of divisive social-political issues," Frericks added.

Anheuser-Busch is far from the only company to spark conservative outrage in 2023, and some groups have laundry lists of corporations they now refuse to patronize.

Target Corp. was recently criticized by conservative activists for selling very carnal and sinful LGBTQ+ Pride nutcrackers and other inclusive holiday merchandise, and earlier this year activists boycotted the retailer over its decision to sell Pride Month products. Protestors also knocked over displays at Target stores and confronted employees and customers over the merchandise.

Kohl's was threatened with boycotts over the company's decision to sell Pride-themed clothing, shortly after Target said it would remove some of its merchandise.

And The Walt Disney Co. has been embroiled in a yearslong dispute with Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis , a Republican, over the company's support for LGBTQ+ policies. The conflict has expanded to the box office , where several of Disney's films have shown poor performance, as well as the company's resorts and its relationship with investors.