Category Woke-ism Diversity Equity Inclusion (DEI) Score

May 19 2023

Bud Light Sales Worsening, -23.3% in Week Five of Widespread Boycott


Posted originally on the CTH on May 18, 2023 | Sundance 

In the fifth week since the Bud Light backlash began, the latest scan data released shows a worsening drop in sales.   The overall trend now shows Bud Light has lost a full quarter of its market position, dropping 23.6% in unit volume and -27.7% in dollar sales.

Despite these dollar losses, the parent company does not seem willing to address the root cause.  Despite North American sales impacts, the Diversity Equity and Inclusion outlook of the Anheuser-Busch global company is still strongly entrenched in the branding.  It does not appear the company is going to modify anything as the very vocal Alphabet ideologues have them captive.

(Washington Examiner) – Bud Light sales are down for a fifth straight week as the financial beating endured by the Anheuser-Busch brand following its partnership with transgender influencer Dylan Mulvaney appears to have no end in sight.

Sales of Bud Light fell 23.6% for the week ending on May 6 compared to numbers recorded in 2022, according to a report citing data acquired by Bump Williams Consulting and NielsenIQ. (read more)

Previously – Across the United States, wholesalers are on the hook for inventories of Bud Light and Budweiser products that no one is buying.  These products have an expiration date, thanks in part to the A/B freshness campaign long ago created.  The wholesalers have to swap out the close-dated products that are not being sold in retailers and restaurants.  The wholesalers are then stuck with out-of-date product and turn back to the corporate office for help.

From reporting in the Wall Street Journal, Anheuser-Busch (A/B) is telling the wholesalers to give the product free to their employees rather than dump it.  By law, they cannot give it away to consumers, and they cannot cross promote the beer by “bundling” alcohol with another CPG product (ie, buy chips, get free beer).

The story is being promoted as A/B being magnanimous in giving the beer to the employees; however, in reality as the product hits its expiration or sell-by date, A/B only has that option, other than to dump it in the garbage and recycle the containers.

May 16 2023

Biden Nominates First Hispanic Woman to Fed Board – Who is She?


Armstrong Economics Blog/Central Banks Re-Posted May 16, 2023 by Martin Armstrong

The headlines praise Biden for nominating the first Latina woman to the Federal Reserve’s board. None of the current headlines list her qualifications, which is a given since this administration favors diversity over experience. I, for one, would like to know more about the people being placed in positions of power since their nationality has no relation to their responsibilities. Yet Sen. Robert Menendez (D, NJ) continually criticized the Fed for not having any Latino members. Let us look into Adriana Kugler, who may become very influential in the financial world.

Kugler, 53, was an executive director for the World Bank. She earned a Bachelor of Arts from McGill University in 1991, graduating with first-class honors in economics and political science. She was awarded her Ph.D. in Economics by the University of California at Berkeley in 1997. She worked as the chief economist for the Labor Department under Obama from September 2011 to January 2013 as well.

A recent article from the Wall Street Journal actually shines some light on Kugler and her policies. The picture they used of her was taken at a World Economic Forum event. She fought for the US government to provide families with $26,400 in funding during the pandemic and proposed three separate pilot programs to raise unemployment benefits. “For every one dollar that we put into the pockets of the unemployed working Americans, two dollars ripple throughout the economy, and it’s actually a win-win—it helps everybody,” she said. Well, that line is troublesome for obvious reasons since inflation should be the top priority for the Fed.

She is a proponent of closing the wage gap and eliminating income inequality. She penned an article about “income redistribution in the form of tax and transfer programs” to offer social insurance for the poor.

“Income redistribution in the form of tax and transfer programs provide social insurance and protection against many types of risks over a person’s lifetime and over his or her career that are not always provided through private insurance. Thus, social insurance in the form of transfer programs—such as the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families, or TANF, program; Medicaid; the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, formerly known as food stamps; and the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children, more commonly referred to as WIC—allows individuals to make decisions that involve higher risk, while at the same time affording them greater mobility than they would otherwise undertake.”

She argues that America needs a “more progressive tax system” in addition to “transfer programs” to redistribute wealth. “[P]rogressive taxation and transfer to the poor is not only the right thing to do; it is the smart thing to do,” the new Fed appointee stated.

The World Bank executive is also a big proponent of open immigration policies and climate change initiatives. “It is the biggest existential threat of our time, and I do believe that we need domestic action to go hand in hand with global leadership on climate change,” she claimed.

Biden has also elevated Philip Jefferson to be the Fed’s vice chair, making him the #2 guy at the Federal Reserve.

The Federal Reserve is intended to be separate from the government, but Biden is installing people who openly hold partisan views regarding economics. Kugler supports Biden and the Build Back Better globalists in terms of her views on wealth redistribution, combining climate change with fiscal policy, government aid, increased social programs, and more. But hey, at least she is Hispanic and female.

May 13 2023

Anheuser-Busch Tells Beer Distributors Not to Worry, This Too Shall Pass


May 12, 2023 | Sundance 

Last week it was reported that Anheuser-Busch CEO Michel Doukeris told investors during a conference call that Budweiser product sales drops in the U.S. and North America were no big deal when contrast against the global sales of the brand. “The Bud Light volume decline in the US over the first three weeks of April, as publicly reported, would represent around 1% of our overall global volumes for that period,” Doukeris said on the call. He focused attention on the company’s global reach, saying that Bud Light is just one beer within its portfolio and it’s not changing the company’s full-year outlook. {link}

Apparently, USA beer drinkers, specifically those who do not want to be identified as transgender men, are an insignificant bunch amid the world of beer drinking consumers.  However, Doukeris might start paying a little more attention as the decline in total A-B products in North America is starting to become more significant. {Source}

It’s interesting that Coors Light and Miller Lite have sales increases surpassing the sales decline of Bud Light.   This would seem to indicate hard brand switches, but Anheuser-Busch in North America held the corporate line and yesterday {source} told their distributors not to worry.

ST. LOUIS – Anheuser-Busch’s distributors from around the country met in St. Louis on Thursday. They heard firsthand about changes being made regarding the Bud Light transgender controversy.

Anheuser-Busch invited the distributors to the downtown Hyatt hotel for a yearly meeting on summer marketing plans. It was the first such meeting since transgender influencer Dylan Mulvaney’s viral social media posts with Bud Light in early April. She received a special edition can with her picture on it. 

Market analysts report Bud Light sales are still down more than 20% for the past month. Bud Light boycotts appear to be driving down sales of fellow Anheuser-Busch brands like Budweiser and Michelob Ultra, which are down but not as sharply. 

[…] They appeared to adopt a “deflect and downplay” strategy, which almost never works. […] An Anheuser-Busch spokesperson confirms the company informed distributors of major changes in marketing structure, issuing the following statement: 

“We regularly bring our wholesaler partners and leadership together to share upcoming brand and business plans. Hosting our May meeting in St. Louis is something we started last year and is an opportunity to bring our partners together in our hometown. 

We have communicated some next steps with our internal teams and wholesaler partners. First, we made it clear that the safety and welfare of our employees and our partners is our top priority. Second, Todd Allen was appointed Vice President of Bud Light reporting directly to Benoit Garbe, U.S. Chief Marketing Officer. Third, we made some adjustments to streamline the structure of our marketing function to reduce layers so that our most senior marketers are more closely connected to every aspect of our brands activities. These steps will help us maintain focus on the things we do best: brewing great beer for all consumers, while always making a positive impact in our communities and on our country.”

Anheuser-Busch and its distributors have also sent letters to bars and other retailers explaining the situation, pointing out that a single marketing official engaged with Mulvaney. (read more)  

As you can tell so far, despite the significant North American impacts to the products, the Diversity Equity and Inclusion outlook of the Anheuser-Busch global company is still strongly entrenched in the branding.  It does not appear the company is going to modify anything as the very vocal Alphabet ideologues have them captive.

As noted by Dustin Smith, a business professor at Webster University who teaches college students how to manage the woke transition in corporate life, “the brewer has been supporting “Pride” events for years with no backlash. Smith predicted its brands would recover and most of its core customers would return.” {link}

Comrades, the global command and control authorities have spoken.  The tranny fluid will continue to be supported until such time as those NASCAR watching, line dancing rednecks capitulate and start drinking it again.   Look for significant ad buys on Twitter soon.

Keep watching.

May 12 2023

Elon Musk Hires Ultra Woke Linda Yaccarino as CEO of Twitter – Former Head of NBCUniversal Advertising – WEF Board Member – Pioneer of DEI (Diversity, Equity, Inclusion) Wokeism


Posted originally on the CTH on May 11, 2023 | Sundance 

Elon Musk has reportedly hired Linda Yaccarino as the CEO of Twitter.  Unfortunately, this decision is the exact opposite of what everyone hoped about Musk’s intentions with the platform.

Ms. Yaccarino is the head of NBCUniversal Advertising and Partnerships [Example Here], and she is the tip of the spear in the creation of DEI (Diversity Equity and Inclusion) indexing and corporate scoring.  You might be familiar with ‘DEI’ as a result of the Bud Light woke advertising campaign to promote beer for transgenders.  Well, that’s DEI in action, and Ms. Yaccarino is one of the pioneers in the advertising industry.

Additionally, Linda Yaccarino is the Chairwoman of the World Economic Forum’s (WEF) Taskforce on Future of Work.  As she noted in her position, “every CEO and executive needs to look inward, and build workplaces that ensure our employees, current and future, can always succeed amid rapid transformation.” Overlaying the Diversity Equity and Inclusion mindset, you will note Yaccarino says, “long-term benefits for the unemployed, women, and communities of color.”

Why would Elon Musk bring the most woke NBC advertising executive to become the CEO of Twitter?  Obviously, he is focused on generating revenue, and Yaccarino can bring woke credentials to the platform luring corporate advertisers.  Unfortunately, in order to achieve that objective, the platform content will have to be modified.

That means the public square of Twitter needs to become a platform of non-controversial NPCs (Non Player Characters) which generally are identified in memes [SEE HERE].  The content on Twitter must fit an approved standard for advertising. Leading this effort to control platform content through the control of the monetization, is literally what Yaccarino has done in her work at NBCUniversal.  Thus, her efforts to promote DEI take on a new level of importance.

Ms. Yaccarino also supports Florida Governor Ron DeSantis and follows him and his fellow influencers through her Twitter account.  Politically this puts her in alignment with Elon Musk and the acceptable Republican group that promotes the Florida Governor.

Keep in mind, for DeSantis, the “woke issues” are political tools to achieve an objective; nothing more.  Ms. Yaccarino supporting Ron DeSantis is not a misnomer, it’s just politics.

Similarly, for Elon Musk, it appears Ms. Yaccarino brings a greater financial value to the table offsetting any contradictions in his belief system about wokeism as a danger to speech and culture.   Obviously, this hire says Musk is more concerned about revenue generation than actual free speech.

Regarding opposition or alignment with what is colloquially called “wokeism”, Ms. Yaccarino is somewhat of a touchstone.  Her bona fides on DEI make her a subject matter expert on the weaponization of advertising to advance a cultural objective.

Just accept things as they are and not as you might wish them to be.  That way you are not disappointed later.

Accept the Musk selection of Ms. Yaccarino as exactly what it says for the Twitter platform.  First, money is the most important issue right now; revenue generation for Musk is the #1 priority.  Second, the content of the platform will modify accordingly.

[ Yaccarino on Twitter ]