After Americans "spoke with their wallets" against Bud Light in response to the beermaker's partnership with transgender influencer Dylan Mulvaney, one advertising industry executive believes this is an example of why consumers are tired of politics being pushed on them by companies.
Mosaic Advertising Owner Tim Cramer joined "Fox & Friends" to discuss how American consumers are done with politics and wokeness pushed by brands.
"We're seeing one of the first casualties of the new economy, the "Bidenomics," diversity and equity and inclusion. We call them the deadheads, D-E-D, diversity equity, we drop off the inclusion, but we call them deadheads because everything that they touch, Trump says it best, I think … it turns to crap. And that's what we're seeing here."
Cramer said it cost Anheuser-Busch big when they incorporated woke politics into their advertising.
"It cost Anheuser-Busch, it cost InBev $27 billion in market cap and a $400 million loss in real revenue to realize that people just want to drink their beer without a debate. … And they do not want to have a message shoved down their throat."
Cramer said Americans used their pocketbooks to send a clear message to brands and argued consumers are becoming increasingly frustrated by politics.
"The way that they can speak is if they can't go to the streets and rant and rave in the streets, then they'll do it with their pocketbook, They'll do with their wallet. And that's exactly what they've done here."
"We've seen this coming for years. We stopped working with liberal woke companies starting back in 2009. And by 2014 we had in fact, on our website, started saying we only work with conservative brands because we saw where there was this was going, and we saw it as a loser back in 2009. I don't see how they get out of this," said Cramer.
Anheuser-Busch InBev recently announced that it laid off hundreds of workers.
Brendan Whitworth, CEO of Anheuser-Busch, the world’s largest brewer, said the company did not make the decision to cut staff "lightly" but was prioritizing its "future long-term success," The Wall Street Journal reported.
"While we never take these decisions lightly, we want to ensure that our organization continues to be set for future long-term success," Anheuser-Busch said. "These corporate structure changes will enable our teams to focus on what we do best — brewing great beer for everyone."
Whitworth clarified the layoffs included corporate and marketing roles at U.S. offices in St. Louis, New York and Los Angeles. It did not impact brewery and warehouse staff, the company said.
Fox Business' Lawrence Richard contributed to this report.
