The ad agency that connected Dylan Mulvaney with Bud Light is reportedly in ‘panic mode’ following the two parties’ failed partnership – but is still seeking to return to ‘business as usual’ as backlash continues to hurt the beer’s bottom line.
An eight-year-old marketing firm based in San Francisco, Captiv8 caters to various consumer brands across the globe – and at some point introduced Anheuser-Busch to the 26-year-old transgender activist, a recent report has revealed.
According to its website, the small outfit operates out of modest office in San Mateo, and uses a business model that pairs various social-media influencers with blue chip firms such as Walmart, American Express, Twitter, and KraftHeinz.
It was cofounded in 2015 by dot.com millionaire Krishna Subramanian, who sold ad network BlueLithium to Yahoo in 2007 and has since touted himself as an ‘expert on influencer marketing’ in a series of interviews in the mainstream media.
A video on the ad agency’s website, moreover, tells viewers there are over ’30 million creators’ in the relatively obscure company’s farm system.
Its connection to the failed campaign involving Mulvaney and Bud Light, however, was unveiled Sunday by an insider – who revealed ‘there was a lot of chatter’ among employees about whether that backlash would ever reach their office.
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The agency that reportedly connected Dylan Mulvaney with Bud Light is now in ‘panic mode’ after the two parties’ failed partnership. A video on the Silicon Valley agency shows of a swanky office – but is no more than a ‘staged’ statement according to a well-placed source
It was cofounded in 2015 by dot.com millionaire Krishna Subramanian, who sold ad network BlueLithium to Yahoo in 2007 and has since touted himself as an ‘expert on influencer marketing’ in a series of interviews in the mainstream media
Since partnering with Mulvaney, a 26-year-old transgender activist who propelled to fame on TikTok during the pandemic, Bud Light’s parent company Anheuser-Busch has faced boycotts and wabubg sales
‘Internally, the company was in serious panic mode,’ the source told The New York Post Sunday as an ongoing Bud Light boycott has reportedly cost the beer’s parent company $27billion in market evaluation in the span a few months.
As for the video on the agency website – which depicts a lively tour of the firm’s supposedly swank office with appearances from influencers like athlete Zion Clark and Smosh star Olivia Sui – the source said that’s just a ‘staged advertisement.’
Speaking to the Post, the well-placed insider revealed Capitv8’s actual office is a small space that’s a far cry from the futuristic set seen in the two minute clip, and in reality can only accommodate about a dozen staffers.
Most of the company’s some 100-strong workforce, the source said, works remotely.
The source went on to reveal that those staffers, since April, have been frantically conferring amongst themselves as to their fate following the failed Bud Light initiative – announced in a now-infamous video of Mulvaney showing of a can of the popular beverage bearing her face.
The company claims to have a database of more than 1 million influencers on platforms such as YouTube, TikTok, Instagram and Twitter – though it is not yet clear if they are resposible for the can that bore Mulvaney’s likeness
The revelation regarding the origins of the failed campaign come as Bud Light parent Anheuser-Busch InBev have placed two executives responsible for the Captiv8-presided partnership— Alissa Heinerscheid, the vice president of marketing, and her boss, Daniel Blake — on leave in April.
Heinerscheid was hired to overhaul Bud Light’s marketing in June 2022 with the vision of freshening up its image, while Blake had worked at Anheuser-Busch for nearly nine years.
Heinerscheid’s shortlived tenure reportedly included a widely-lauded Super Bowl ad featuring Miles Teller and wife Keleigh Sperry, as well as ‘the Bud Light Carry’ campaign that showed a woman carrying a round of beers to a table of friends without spilling a drop.
Those ads, statements from the beer brand revealed, were part of Heinerscheid’s vision to make the brand more female friendly – something she described only a few months ago as a ‘passion point’.
But that vision was swiftly cut down on April 3 with the brand’s partnership with Mulvaney, a controversial trans activist with a mass following on social media, which proved to be a step too far for Bud Light’s loyal customers.
Speaking to the Post, the well-placed insider revealed Capitv8’s actual office is a small space that’s a far cry from the futuristic set seen in the two minute clip, and in reality can only accommodate about a dozen staffer
The video on the agency website depicts a lively tour of the firm’s supposedly swank office, with appearances from renowned social media influencers such as former Smosh star Olivia Sui and amputee athlete Zion Clark – two of supposedly 30million creators in the firm’s stable
Most of the company’s some 100-strong workforce, the source said, works remotely – contrary to what the futuristic scene seen on the firm’s website suggests
The company claims to have a database of more than 1 million influencers on platforms such as YouTube, TikTok, Instagram and Twitter – though it is not yet clear if they are resposible for the can that bore Mulvaney’s likeness
The partnership sparked protests and backlash and parent company Anheuser-Busch has shed $27 billion in value in mere months
The revelation regarding the origins of the failed campaign come as Bud Light parent Anheuser-Busch InBev have placed two executives responsible for the Captiv8-presided partnership— Alissa Heinerscheid, the vice president of marketing, and her boss, Daniel Blake — on leave in April.
The backlash was amplified on April 3 when it was announced 26-year-old transgender influencer Mulvaney – seen here running errands in LA last month amid the height of the still persisting public outcry – would be working with Bud Light’s marketing division
Neither Heinerscheid of Blake have not commented on the scandal.
A graduate of Wharton business school, she has been hailed in interviews as the first woman to ‘lead’ Bud Light in its 41-year history.
On March 30, in an interview with the Make Yourself at Home podcast, she told of her strategy to ditch Bud Light’s ‘fratty’ reputation and embrace inclusivity to attract a young generation of drinkers.
‘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 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. So I had this super clear mandate. It’s like we need to evolve and elevate this incredibly iconic brand.
‘What does evolve and elevate mean? It means inclusivity. It means shifting the tone. It means having a campaign that’s truly inclusive and feels lighter and brighter and different. And appeals to women and to men.
‘And representation. Is it sort of the heart of evolution? You’ve got to see people who reflect you in the work.
‘And we had this hangover. I mean, Bud Light had been kind of a brand of fratty, kind of out of touch humor, and it was really important that we had another approach,’ she said.
In an earlier interview with Forbes, she gave the same mandate.
‘As the first woman to lead the biggest beer brand in the world, it’s an amazing opportunity to really evolve and elevate Bud Light, this brand I love.
‘This campaign is meant to feel different, to be lighter and brighter, with a confidence and magnetism, and it’s really critical to depict real people and real places,’ she said.
‘What I need to do to help this brand to evolve… this is my passion point.’
During a podcast appearance last month, days before the Mulvaney partnership was announced, Heinerscheid said Bud Light was on the wane when she took the helm last summer, but planned to right the ship in the coming months
The partnership is evidently part of Heinerscheid’s previously mentioned plans for the company, to make it more inclusive and less male-centered
Since taking the gig in July, Heinerscheid has already rolled out several adverts as part of a push to empower women – one of which features a dancing Miles Teller and his wife
This desire was felt in a February commercial titled ‘The Bud Light Carry,’ which saw a female protagonist, after buying her friends a round of beer, successfully bring the glasses to her friends without spilling a drop
The 26-yea-old transgender activist announced the partnership in a series of videos that included the hashtag ‘#budlightpartner’, and captions that touted the cans bearing her face as her ‘most prized possession’
Prior to her current role, Heinerscheid worked as an associate brand manager for Listerine, and afterwards headed Bud Light’s parent Anheuser-Busch’s inhouse agency for seven months.
During that time, the marketing specialist claims to have created the firm’s current ‘internal influencer agency’, an approach that Bud Light now appears to be favoring with its decision to market through figures like Mulvaney.
In an interview with New York PR publication Provoke Media last year, Heinerscheid hailed companies like Nike for inclusive, ‘culturally relevant campaigns’ featuring black athletes, while also praising former employer General Mills for its more ‘wholesome and genuine’ approach to ads.
‘I have always been impressed with how culturally relevant and impactful the marketing is for Nike,’ she told the outlet in November after being named on of its 25 American Innovators of the year.
‘Also, as a parent,’ she added, ‘there is just something so wholesome and genuine about what General Mills does.’
That said, despite being a proponent of progressive ideals, the New Yorker is a registered Republican, according to public records updated in 2016, and as previously mentioned, has a family with three young children.
She married her husband Henry Charles Heinerscheid, a consultant in Boston with Tapestry Networks, in 2011, after working with him as a senior associate for five years at the firm after graduating Harvard, where she studied English.
Their wedding was announced by the New York Times in May 2011.
She then enrolled in a marketing Master’s program at $60,000-per-year Wharton, finishing in 2013. She has held roles at Cheerio’s, Listerine, and Anheuser-Busch in the time since.
Mulvaney – a transgender woman who during the pandemic became known on TikTok for her ‘days of girlhood’ series – has more than 10.8million followers on the platform.
The Mulvaney controversy began on April 3 when Bud Light sent her custom-made cans featuring her face. The gift served as the start of the since-confirmed partnership between the parties, further confirmed by an ensuing post from Mulvaney, in which she appeared to her followers naked in a bathtub drinking a Bud Light beer.
In the turmoil that ensued, Bud Light’s parent company and Heinerscheid’s former employer, Anheuser-Busch, issued a statement saying it supported the brand’s decision to work with Mulvaney, whose videos follow her journey.
‘Anheuser-Busch works with hundreds of influencers across our brands as one of many ways to authentically connect with audiences across various demographics,’ the rep said in a statement shared with several outlets last week.
It added: ‘From time to time, we produce unique commemorative cans for fans and for brand influencers, like Mulvaney. This commemorative can was a gift to celebrate a personal milestone and is not for sale to the general public.’
Their doubling down only enraged angered customers more.
Onlookers are now criticizing the maneuver as a shameless publicity grab, amid the recent trend of companies going ‘woke’ to better their bottom lines.
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