Category Archives: Advertising

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Get #woke, go broke: this is what can happen when companies start getting involved in political controversies All too often, it's not just the #woke who go broke

Everybody has heard the expression, ‘Get #woke[1]From Wikipedia: Woke (/ˈwoʊk/) as a political term of African-American origin refers to a perceived awareness of issues concerning social justice and racial justice. It is derived from … Continue reading, go broke.’

Some on the left thought that the backlash against Bud Light over the Dylan Mulvaney stunt would fade relatively quickly. In news which might call into question other corporations and their ‘celebration’ of homosexual ‘Pride Month,’ it looks like that hasn’t happened yet. From The Wall Street Journal:

Bud Light Loses Title as Top-Selling U.S. Beer

Modelo Especial in May took over the top sales spot, reflecting the enduring damage from a Bud Light boycott

By Jennifer Maloney | Tuesday, June 13, 2023 | 8:58 PM EDT

Bud Light no longer rules the American beer market.

Modelo Especial overtook the brand as the top-selling U.S. beer in May, punctuating a monthslong boycott of Bud Light that has reshuffled the beer industry.

Modelo represented 8.4% of U.S. retail-store beer sales in the four weeks ended June 3, compared with 7.3% for Bud Light, according to an analysis of Nielsen data by consulting firm Bump Williams.

Bud Light’s sales have tanked since April, when transgender influencer Dylan Mulvaney posted an image on Instagram of a personalized Bud Light can that the brand had sent her as a gift. The Instagram post sparked an uproar, and brewer Anheuser-Busch InBev’s BUD: (%) response to the boycott angered even more people.

Bud Light’s sales were down about 24% in the week ended June 3 compared with the same week last year, according to Bump Williams. Other Anheuser-Busch brands also have taken a hit, including Budweiser and Michelob Ultra.

At least as of June 1th, it was “unclear” whether Bud Light’s vice president for marketing Alissa Heinerscheid remains on her ‘leave of absence’ or has returned to work. That was the latest information I could find in a Google search for Alissa Heinerscheid.

One would have thought that other corporate leaders, seeing what happened to Mrs Heinerscheid and her boss, Group Vice President for Marketing at Anheuser-Busch Daniel Blake, who also took a ‘leave of absence,’, reportedly involuntarily, would have tempered the response of other corporate executives to going all-in on ‘Pride Month,’ but some took the leap anyway.

The continued decline through May is an ominous sign for Bud Light distributors during what they say is a make-or-break stretch between Memorial Day and the Fourth of July. Most Anheuser-Busch distributors are independently owned, many of them by families who have sold Budweiser for generations. Some Anheuser-Busch distributors said they are now contemplating layoffs. Others who also carry Constellation brands said their losses have been partially offset by Modelo’s surge.

“Our year is screwed,” said an Anheuser-Busch distributor who doesn’t carry Modelo.

In other words, it isn’t just Mr Blake and Mrs Heinerscheid who have suffered[2]I have not seen any public information as to whether Mr Blake or Mrs Heinerscheid are being paid during their involuntary leaves of absence.; many small business owners have lost a lot of business, and some of their employees may lose their jobs.

Since the boycott, Anheuser-Busch has accelerated production of new Bud Light ads, leaning into the themes of football and country music. The brewer also told its distributors that it would buy back unsold cases of beer that have gone past their expiration date.

In other words, ‘leaning into the themes’ that are not controversial or political, which is pretty much what sensible advertisers have been doing since advertising began. Try to get a few new customers, and don’t piss off the ones you already have. One would have thought that the Harvard-educated Mrs Heinerscheid would have already known that, but apparently if one did think that, one would have been wrong.

References

References
↑1 From Wikipedia:

Woke (/ˈwoʊk/) as a political term of African-American origin refers to a perceived awareness of issues concerning social justice and racial justice. It is derived from the African-American Vernacular English expression “stay woke“, whose grammatical aspect refers to a continuing awareness of these issues.
By the late 2010s, woke had been adopted as a more generic slang term broadly associated with left-wing politics and cultural issues (with the terms woke culture and woke politics also being used). It has been the subject of memes and ironic usage. Its widespread use since 2014 is a result of the Black Lives Matter movement.

I shall confess to sometimes “ironic usage” of the term. To put it bluntly, I think that the ‘woke’ are just boneheadedly stupid.

↑2 I have not seen any public information as to whether Mr Blake or Mrs Heinerscheid are being paid during their involuntary leaves of absence.
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Harvard grad enters the unemployment line

We have previously noted the idiocy of Bud Light’s Vice President for Marketing Alissa Gordon Heinerscheid’s choice to use Dylan Mulvaney, the homosexual male who claims he’s a girl, and has been using a “365 Days of Girlhood” presentation — which I refuse to link — which completely mocks stereotypes of how real girls act, as the brand’s spokesthing. Well, now the digested food appears to have hit the air circulation device:

Bud Light’s Marketing Leadership Undergoes Shakeup After Dylan Mulvaney Controversy

Alissa Heinerscheid, who has led the brand since June, takes leave of absence and is replaced by Budweiser global marketing VP Todd Allen

by Jon Springer | Friday, April 21, 2023

Anheuser-Busch InBev has changed marketing leadership for Bud Light in the wake of controversy over the brand sending a can to transgender influencer Dylan Mulvaney with her (sic) face on it.

Alissa Heinerscheid, marketing VP for the brand since June 2022, has taken a leave of absence, the brewer confirmed, and will be replaced by Todd Allen, who was most recently global marketing VP for Budweiser.

I did suggest, in the previous article, that Mrs Heinerscheid had made a “Career Limiting Mistake.” 🙂 Continue reading →

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Did Anheuser-Busch CEO Brendan Whitworth really not know about the Dylan Mulvaney boondoggle?

When your company does something just boneheadedly stupid, always blame a low-level staffer, even if that low-level staffer holds the title Vice President of Marketing.

My good friend, and occasional blog pinch-hitter, William Teach noted how Anheuser-Busch is trying to backtrack away from the idiocy of using ‘transgender activist’ Dylan Mulvaney as a spokesthing:

Anheuser-Busch CEO Realizes They Really Messed Up, Issues Statement Which Pleased No One

By William Teach | Saturday, April 15, 2023 | 7:00 AM EDT

Brendan Whitworth must have taken a look at the plummeting stock, and, more importantly, the plummeting sales, and decided to do a little damage control:

Anheuser-Busch CEO Issues Statement After Dylan Mulvaney Beer Can Scandal: ‘We Never Intended to Be Part of a Discussion that Divides People’

Anheuser-Busch CEO Brendan Whitworth issued a mea culpa Friday in the wake of the company’s partnership with Dylan Mulvaney, a former gay man who now claims to be a woman.

The move sparked backlash across the nation as the company became the latest to focus on woke social issues — namely, the radical left’s attempts to promote woke gender ideology into society by injecting it into schools and placing it on the forefront of favorite brands in corporate America. According to reports, Anheuser-Busch lost more than $6 billion in market value following its promotional campaign with the transgender TikTok star as tensions rose and boycotts ensued.

On Friday, Whitworth issued a statement, contending that the company “never intended to be part of a discussion that divides people.”

Translation: “We were f(ornicating) clueless!”

Anheuser-Busch is headquartered in St Louis, and the Missouri state legislature has been fighting over proposed legislation to prohibit ‘transition’ quackery for minors; did no one there read the St Louis Post-Dispatch? Does no one there pay any attention to the local news broadcasts?

The St Louis Dispatch, rescued from bankruptcy by Joseph Pulitzer in 1878, and merged with John Dillon’s St Louis Post, to become the Post and Dispatch, soon the Post-Dispatch quickly became the city’s most important newspaper, and eventually the largest in the region. It’s a regional newspaper that no one can ignore, and if the paper’s editorial position appears to support ‘gender affirming care,’ the newspaper publishes a fair amount of coverage of the political fight over it. Local television stations also cover the topic.

The leadership of Anheuser-Busch can’t not have known that this is a controversial topic, even if some, or all, of them come down on the side of transgenderism stupidity, even if some, or all, of them swallow the whole idea not just hook, line, and sinker, but all the way up to deep throat the rod-and-reel. But someone in the company decided to make Mr Mulvaney the face of Bud Light advertising.

So far, that decision has been attributed to Alissa Gordon Heinerscheid, who said she had a mandate to keep America’s best-selling beer from losing customers, to expand its customer base.

I’m a businesswoman, I had a really clear job to do when I took over Bud Light, and it was ‘This brand is in decline, it’s been in a decline for a really long time, and if we do not attract young drinkers to come and drink this brand there will be no future for Bud Light.

Advertisers have been doing that for decades. We began to see ads including minorities in the 1970s, and many, many ads these days show groups of people who are racially integrated, in an attempt to appeal to all races and ethnicities and show growing friendship. The New York Times was reporting on an increase in interracial couples being shown in advertising five years ago.

But Dylan Mulvaney? He’s not just claiming to be a ‘transgender girl,’ but his shtick is actual mockery of the whole notion; rather than trying to fit in as a woman, his act is one which is a wholly over-the-top of every silly stereotype there is. Mrs Heinerscheid, who is a graduate of Harvard University, was either too clueless or too stupid to see that using Mr Mulvaney as a brand spokesthing would cause a backlash, or she just plain didn’t care, and wanted to use her position to push an agenda, when her job is to sell more beer.

I’ve got to ask: did Chief Executive Officer Whitworth really not know about Mrs Heinerscheid’s brilliant idea? It’s not as though a lot of other people didn’t know: television commercials had to be produced, cans with Mr Mulvaney’s picture were made, checks were cut, contracts signed, all of which involves people, a lot of people, people including attorneys.

We don’t know if Mrs Heinerscheid will be, as Mr Teach suggested, promoted to customer, but something like this would seem to fall well into the category of a Career Limiting Mistake. A corporate Vice President, coming up with an idea as controversial as this one, would normally protect himself by taking it up the ladder, crediting himself with the decision but getting feedback from his bosses.

Yet Mr Whitworth is distancing himself from Mrs Heinerscheid’s decisions. That’s kind of what some people would do when something like this blows up in their faces, leaving Mrs Heinerscheid twisting in the wind.

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Shocking! Who could ever have predicted this? Get woke, go broke?

I have said before that I don’t see Dylan Mulvaney as an actual ‘transgender’ woman; his act, “Days of Girlhood,” is so much a parody, so different from how actual girls act, that it’s difficult to take him seriously. Of course, the dummkopf from Delaware did, as President Biden actually sat down for an interview with Mr Mulvaney. Is there any Catholic doctrine that our purportedly Catholic President won’t trash?

Nike hired Mr Mulvaney to sell sports bras when he has “nothing to put in the sports bra, when actually it’s really important women get proper support when they do sport,” 1980 women’s Olympic silver medalist Sharron Davis said.

Anheuser-Busch somehow thought that it would be an absolutely groovy cool idea to use Mr Mulvaney to sell Bud Light beer!

Bud Light Distributors Fear Unemployment After Beer Sales Plummet Over Dylan Mulvaney Partnership

Story by Haley Gunn • Tuesday, April 11, 2023 • 8:30 PM

Anheuser-Busch distributors have begun to fear for their jobs after Bud Light sales in the Midwest and South plummeted following the beer’s new sponsorship with transgender activist Dylan Mulvaney, RadarOnline.com has learned.

News of Mulvaney’s partnership with the popular beer sparked controversy online. Conservative celebrities like Kid Rock took to social media to post their outrage at the brand. Critics accused the brands partnering with the TikTok star of going “woke.”

Frenzy surrounding Bud Light, which is owned by Anheuser-Busch, reached new heights when a man, who claimed to be an affiliate distributor of the beer, posted his grievances on Twitter.

There’s more at the original.

Budweiser beers had already seen slumping sales, so perhaps this was a ‘Hail Mary’ pass attempt. Whatever it was, it seems to have fallen as flat as an open can of beer:

Also read: William Teach: What A Shame: Anheuser-Busch Sees $6 Billion Loss After Trans Stunt

Anheuser-Busch distributors in the South were “spooked” by the widespread backlash Bud Light received after teaming up with transgender social media star Dylan Mulvaney.

The intense opposition to Mulvaney promoting the beer has been alarming to Anheuser-Busch distributors, which placed fewer orders after the partnership sparked outrage from conservatives who argued the company is pushing “gender propaganda,” according to a Beer Business Daily report reviewed by Fox News.

“We reached out to a handful of A-B [Anheuser-Busch] distributors who were spooked, most particularly in the Heartland and the South, and even then in their more rural areas,” the popular beer industry trade publication wrote.

Beer Business Daily said it assessed the situation “purely from a marketing and sales perspective,” noting that current data are very limited but “it appears likely Bud Light took a volume hit in some markets over the holiday weekend” since rural customers are also most likely to celebrate Easter.

“Whether it lasts or whether the publicity sparks incremental off-setting demand from over the ideological divide in metro areas, remains to be seen,” the publication wrote, adding that it will be difficult for Bud Light to “appeal to the sensitivities of a new generation of drinkers” without offending some longtime customers.

It’s too early to know if the slump in sales will continue, but companies use celebrities and athletes to advertise their products because they are hoping for some form of audience identification with the celebrity or athlete. Nike’s sports bra is pretty much the same as any other manufacturer’s sports bra; will using a flat-chested male-in-drag. While Mr Mulvaney has ‘famously’ had ‘facial feminization surgery,’ at least as of a few months ago had not had been castrated or had ‘bottom’ surgery or breast augmentation done. How does that sell sports bras? Does making Mr Mulvaney the ‘face’ of Bud Light really appeal to the vast majority of beer drinkers as someone with whom they’d want to identify?

I cannot boycott Bud Light, or Budweiser beer, or any of Anheuser-Busch’s other products, because I never bought them in the first place, but Bud Light was the nation’s number one beer by sales. Perhaps other beers which taste great but are less filling, whatever the heck that means, will supplant Bud Light, or perhaps they won’t.

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How the Bail Bond Process Works

Defendants often attend arraignments soon after their arrests. At these hearings, judges outline defendants’ charges and announce whether they are setting bail. The jurisdiction, severity of a defendant’s alleged crimes and the chances that they may become a flight risk may impact a judge’s decision to impose bail in a case. Defendants can benefit from understanding what role bail bonds serve and how to secure them. Here is a guide that explains what happens during the bail bond process.

How Bail Works

Judges impose bail as an assurance that a defendant will return for future court hearings. Defendants may initially only have to post a percentage of the bail to earn their release from jail. However, the full amount may immediately become due if they fail to appear at a future court hearing. 

How Defendants Secure Bail Bonds

It is a defendant’s responsibility to put up bail to secure their release from jail. Defendants often have someone close to them pay the amount owed. Instances may exist in which the bail amount may be too high, causing defendants to sell off their valuable property to cover it. In such instances, defendants often enlist the services of bail bond agents. To find potential candidates, the defendant may want to perform an online search for the phrase “bail bonds Statesville near me.” 

What Working With a Bail Bondsman Is Like

A bail agent’s decision to extend a defendant a surety bond is discretionary. They may base their decision to work with someone on that person’s creditworthiness and the availability of collateral. Bail bondsmen often add their own service fee in addition to the bail set by the judge. This expense can be up to 10% of the bail amount.

Bail agents may ask their clients to put up collateral, such as a home, jewelry or other valuable assets, to ensure the customer abides by their written agreement. This contract includes repaying the loan and going to court.

Incarceration isn’t ideal, which is why knowing what options are available for securing a defendant’s release once a judge sets bail is critical. 

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How To Navigate a Divorce

No one gets married with the intention of getting divorced later on. However, a large percentage of marriages end in divorce, and you may not know what to do if you find yourself in this unfortunate situation. A divorce can get nasty, especially if there are children involved. Use these three tips to navigate the divorce process as smoothly as possible.

Hire a Lawyer

You may try to avoid incurring the additional expense of a lawyer if your divorce is friendly. Unfortunately, many divorces are far from amicable. If you find yourself in the middle of a contested divorce Tampa, it is time to hire a legal representative to fight for your best interests. He or she can also help you navigate the legal processes associated with divorce.

Know What You Want

If your divorce is not amicable, it can be tempting to refuse to comply with your former spouse’s requests for asset division. However, these negative feelings can drag out the divorce process and make it harder for everyone involved. You need to be willing to compromise if you want the process to be over quickly. It may help to make a list of which assets you want to keep, which ones are negotiable and which ones you don’t care about.  

Develop a Custody Arrangement

If you and your ex have kids together, the divorce process can get even messier. It is important to learn how to co-parent effectively, but that probably won’t happen for at least a few years. The best thing you can do after a fresh divorce is keep your negative feelings to yourself and focus on your kids. Regardless of how you feel about your former spouse, he or she is still the other parent to your children. Your kids will likely still want to spend plenty of quality time with your ex. You should be supportive and come up with a custody arrangement that everyone involved is satisfied with.

Divorce is not an easy process for anyone involved. Most people want to get the process over with as quickly as possible so that they can resume their normal lifestyles. These three tips won’t take away the pain that comes with filing for divorce, but they can help the process flow more smoothly. Use these tips so that you can get the divorce finalized quickly and start the healing process so that you can have a better life.

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What Do Entertainment Lawyers Like John Branca Attorney Do?

Some legal specialties are more specific and specialized than others. There are litigators, who argue the letter of the law for clients or the government in court. There are corporate lawyers, tax attorneys and those who specialize in contracts, plus many more. Most law school graduates find an area of law they like to practice and settle in for a long career, but those who wish to pursue entertainment law are in for a particularly wild ride, and must remain on their toes at all times.

Representing celebrity clients comes with its own set of unique challenges. An Attorney must be resourceful and prepared for anything their clients may face. Here are just a few of the roles an entertainment attorney fills to ensure that creative individuals with quick-rising success are able to earn and grow their businesses while their interests are protected.

Negotiators

According to John Branca attorney to superstars such as Michael Jackson and the Beach Boys, the role of an entertainment lawyer during negotiations isn’t always black and white. Legal and talent teams work on behalf of their clients to secure contracts and negotiate fees, which can get complicated when multiple interests and opinions are involved. Hear Branca recall a story from his early years representing celebrity clients.

Business Liaisons

Entertainment attorneys are versatile. They work with many talented people across the following industries:

  • Music
  • Film
  • Television
  • Comedy
  • Electronic media
  • Print (newspaper and magazine)

Those in the entertainment industry are in need of many different types of services. Therefore, a lawyer serves as a liaison between their clients and other business professionals like promoters, venue managers and tax preparers. Effective attorneys protect their clients from being taken advantage of by shady business partners.

Guardians of Intellectual Property

Wherever creators are creating, there are bound to be issues around trademarks and copyrights. Lawyers work to determine the difference between derivative, inspired and outright pirated work. In the event of stolen intellectual property, a litigator will prepare lawsuits and seek damages on behalf of the wronged client. This mitigates the chances of other individuals using material, song lyrics or melodies that belong to the writers, producers or artists that created them.

While specialized education programs exist for aspiring attorneys who wish to work with high-profile clients, networking is the best avenue for entering the entertainment space. Lawyers like John Branca need to have connections in film and music as well as top-notch business development skills.

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Steps in Choosing a Social Security Disability Attorney

When choosing a social security disability law firm Orlando-based, there are a few factors to look into. Social security disability attorneys belong to a distinct classification of law. The professionals assist customers with both physical and physiological disabilities. In most cases, such people are suited for specific jobs where it is challenging to apply for the undesired conditions. In some scenarios, a claim may prove fatal for an individual, leading to the individual being considered disabled for any purpose of social security. Below are ways to select a social security disability lawyer:

Select the proper lawyer

To be comfortable and satisfied with the lawyer, you need a serious and confident professional lawyer for your representation in the courtroom. The attorney of your choice must be experienced and reputed in the sector. The lawyer must be reliable and efficient to display evidence of succeeding in cases similar to your type.

Find information on the case procedure

The first step towards completing a successful social security matter is dependent on how you file the case. The main reason for engaging a lawyer is to get help and guidance on filing a social security issue. The professionals understand how to go about social security disability claimants and the rules and regulations to organize the case appropriately. Consider a lawyer who is authentic and well organized.

In handling your claim, the social disability attorney should be sympathetic and patient in the best way to help the claimants from each element. Special people are provided with a chance to demand a particular sum of money as alimony from the government or authorities to cater for daily expenses, as the individual cannot earn money for daily expenditures. In this case, you need to search for a professional and experienced social security disability attorney for you or your loved one in need of a lawyer’s services.

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Types of Wrongful Death Examples

Wrongful death cases are one of the most tragic types of criminal or civil cases that can occur. Wrongful death is defined as killing an individual through gross negligence, recklessness, intentional misconduct, or other reckless wrongdoing. The hearts of every member of the legal profession go out to those who have suffered this loss. In this post, we’ll go into examples of wrongful death scenarios and how a lawyer can help you if you feel you need to pursue this path.

Two Categories of Wrongful Death

Wrongful death falls under two categories: criminal and civil wrongs. Criminal wrongful deaths involve a third party who intentionally killed another person while committing a crime such as murder or manslaughter. Civil wrongful death involves someone whose negligent actions lead to another person’s injury or death. A wrongful death attorney can help sort it for you.

Examples of Wrongful Death Situations

  • Someone was killed because of an impaired driver.
  • A doctor made the wrong diagnosis and prescribed the wrong medicines at the wrong time or in bad combinations, causing death.
  • A person purchased a defective item. When the thing breaks, a series of immediate events result in death (exploding cell phone, broken car parts, etc.).
  • A personal injury accident resulting from a party where drugs, alcohol, or other substances and reckless behavior were present. Complications from the injury result in death.
  • Someone buys expired food (even just slightly expired) from the grocery store, eats it, is poisoned, and dies.
  • The victim of a mugging, robbery, gang-related conflict, or similar violence that results in death.
  • A person purchases a new and legal recreational substance, except it is tainted from the factory, and the person dies.
  • Someone dies from the accidental discharge of a firearm.
  • A patient in a hospital needs a particular piece of medical equipment to live, and the machine becomes defective, resulting in the patient’s death.
  • Someone held in police or county custody dies due to excessive force.

What’s Needed to Prove a Wrongful Death Claim

In most cases of wrongful death claims, the family and loved ones left behind have an idea of who else may have contributed to the passing. Periodically, wrongful deaths may also result from accidents in which no identifiable party acted negligently but where the victim’s family nonetheless seeks compensation for their loss.

Proving a wrongful death involves first determining whether or not the deceased was killed by an act that violated their civil rights (a crime) or died due to someone else’s negligence (civil). If it can be shown that an individual has been wrongfully killed, then the deceased’s family can recover damages.

How a Wrongful Death Attorney Helps

A wrongful death attorney may help a victim’s family file or investigate their claim with insurance companies, work to gather evidence that supports their argument, or negotiate a settlement. Wrongful death attorneys can also help family members with the financial aspects of their loss, including making funeral arrangements and providing emotional support to grieving families in different stages.

Conclusion

Wrongful death lawsuits can be based on various types of negligent acts, including defective or dangerous products, medical malpractice, criminal convictions, and even police brutality. In all cases, a wrongful death claim should be examined to see if a legitimate claim can be made. If a legitimate claim cannot be made, then the family and loved ones can at least have closure knowing they tried.