Anheuser-Busch CEO tells investors Mulvaney promotion was 'not a formal campaign'

Anheuser-Busch CEO Michel Doukeris told investors in an earnings call Thursday that Bud Light's partnership with transgender social media influencer Dylan Mulvaney was "not a formal campaign."

"This was the result of one can," Doukeris said in the video call obtained by Fox Business. "It was not made for production or sale to general public. It was one post, not a formal campaign or advertisement."

Anheuser-Busch, the parent company of Bud Light, has faced widespread conservative criticism, including calls for boycotts, in the month since Mulvaney shared a sponsored post to her Instagram page promoting Bud Light’s March Madness contest. Doukeris reaffirmed the company's support for Bud Light in the call, saying that it plans to triple media spending for the brand this summer.

According to media reports, the marketing executive who oversaw the partnership between Bud Light and Mulvaney was placed on a leave of absence.

Doukeris said that the situation has impacted the frontline employees who work with the company, including delivery drivers and wholesale buyers. He added that Anheuser-Busch is providing "direct financial support" for employees and buyers impacted.

"We believe we have the experience, the resources and the partners to manage this," he said.

The company's response to the criticism has also prompted backlash, as the The Human Rights Campaign called on Anheuser-Busch earlier this month to publicly reaffirm its support for the transgender community, saying it had demonstrated a "lack of fortitude in upholding its values of diversity, equity, and inclusion."

Mulvaney broke her weeks-long silence on the criticism in a TikTok last week, saying she "didn’t even feel part of the conversation" surrounding the controversy. She said in an interview last month on the  “Onward With Rosie O’Donnell” podcast that she was an “easy target” for conservatives.

“The reason I think I’m an easy target is because I’m still new to this,” she said. “I think going after a trans woman who has been doing this for 20 years is a lot more difficult.”