quote:
you're giving me a bullshite binary choice. i dont think either of those.

i think they thought they could use the 2020 BLM clownshow to score some free marketing via adoring nationwide press coverage and break into a much larger market than the greater New Orleans area. in that sense i think it was a pure business decision. however, in this case, choosing to use the "woke" craze that was sweeping the nation WAS the bad decision, because they alienated and pissed off their customer base with zero assurance that a new market was going to magically appear.

Or, they thought the national sentiment was changing and a product branded as "Dixie" was not going continue to gain new customers in the changing marketplace. That was a reasonable thought...if you assumed what you saw on teh nightly news and social media was reflective of the majority of your potential customer base.

It isn't. Social media is a funhouse mirror that allows vocal minorities to distort reality like never before. Most people don't walk around everyday looking for some reason to be outraged and run to social media to virtue signal. I suspect that is even more true of the American lager beer market which was proven to be accurate in the Bud Light frick up.

AB developed a marking campaign directed at the new marketplace. One that places emphasis on diversity and inclusion. I mean, that's what social media was telling them was the desires of the marketplace. Except that wasn't true...at all. Most people who like to drink mass produce lager beer don't really give a shite about their brand of choice's stance on "social justice". They just want to drink a damn beer. Nevertheless, Bud Light learned the hard way that when you chase a very small segment of the market who isn't and will NEVER be your customer you run a huge risk of turning off those who are.

Social media is NOT reality.