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Hour 3 - The Bud Light Backstory - The Clay Travis and Buck Sexton Show | Wave AI Podcast Notes

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Hour 3 - The Bud Light Backstory

The Clay Travis and Buck Sexton Show

Fri Feb 21 2025

Summary

Summary of "The Clay Travis and Buck Sexton Show" – Hour 3: The Bud Light Backstory

Release Date: February 21, 2025

1. Introduction and Guest Appearance

In the final hour of the week, hosts Clay Travis and Buck Sexton welcome Anson Freirex, the former president of Anheuser-Busch and co-founder of Strive Asset Management. Anson is featured discussing his new book, "Last Call for Bud Light: The Fall and Future of America's Favorite Beer."

2. The Bud Light Controversy

Clay Travis (00:00): Opens the discussion by addressing the failed endorsement deal between Bud Light and Dylan Mulvaney, a transgender influencer. He highlights the significant decline in Bud Light's sales, which are reportedly still down by 40% two years after the incident.

Anson Freirex (01:24): Argues that the Bud Light situation is the most destructive endorsement mishap in modern American capitalism, surpassing even the infamous New Coke debacle of the 1980s. He criticizes Anheuser-Busch's lack of accountability and inability to apologize, stating, “the CEO is still there. There’s been no apology” (01:24).

Discussion Points:

Ownership and Management Issues: Anson explains that Anheuser-Busch was acquired by the European company InBev 15 years ago, leading to a shift in corporate culture and decision-making that alienated the American consumer base (02:20).
Brand Identity Crisis: The shift from an American-owned company led to foreign executives who didn’t understand the US market. Anson suggests selling Anheuser-Busch back to American ownership, such as Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway or firms like Blackstone, to realign the company with American values and consumer preferences (02:20).
Marketing Missteps: Bud Light lost its identity as a fun, uncontroversial beer brand by engaging in political and social issues. Anson emphasizes the need for Bud Light to apologize and return to its roots, avoiding political entanglements that don’t resonate with its core customers (03:41).

Clay Travis (04:30): Broadens the discussion to reflect on larger corporate issues where brands fail to understand their consumer base, citing examples like Target, Disney, ESPN, and the NBA. He points out that without a deep understanding of their customers, brands risk alienating their audience, much like Bud Light did.

Anson Freirex (04:30): Agrees and highlights that Bud Light was at the forefront of the ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) and DEI (Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion) movements, which led to their downfall. He praises companies like Disney for recognizing their mistakes and attempting to rectify their course by rehiring leaders like Bob Iger who focus on non-political, customer-centric policies (06:12).

3. Long-Term Impact and Brand Recovery

Clay Travis (06:12): Asks Anson whether Bud Light is stunned by the prolonged toxicity of its brand and why the company hasn't apologized, leading to the continued decline in sales.

Anson Freirex (06:44): Explains that Bud Light underestimated the severity of the boycott, facilitated by its commoditized nature where consumers could easily switch to competitors like Miller Lite or Coors Light. Social media amplified the boycott by showcasing Bud Light’s diminishing presence at events, further driving sales down (06:44).

Caller Interaction (12:17): Anson discusses how the experience with Bud Light serves as a cautionary tale for major brands, emphasizing the importance of authenticity and trust. He cites Chick-fil-A as an example of a brand maintaining its identity by focusing on its core values without overstepping into controversial social issues (12:42).

4. Political Commentary: Trump vs. Governor of Maine

Clay Travis (15:47): Shifts the conversation to a recent confrontation between former President Donald Trump and the Governor of Maine over transgender athletes competing in women's sports. He criticizes the Democratic Party for adopting extreme positions that alienate a significant portion of voters.

Donald Trump Clip (16:01): Trump asserts, “We are the federal law...you better comply because you're not going to get any federal funding at all if you don't” (16:01). He threatens legal action against the Governor of Maine for defying his executive order, highlighting the politicization of gender identity in sports.

Anson Freirex (10:34): Anson discusses the legal mechanisms surrounding such disputes, referencing the Civil Rights Act of 1964, and criticizes retailers like Target for implementing discriminatory policies based on race, sex, and gender. He advocates for brands to recommit to serving all customers without pushing social agendas that don’t align with their consumer base (10:34).

Caller Interaction (23:24 & 34:25): Listeners from Maine express strong opposition to the Governor’s stance, emphasizing that the majority of Maine's population does not support allowing men who identify as women to compete in women's sports. They commend Trump’s position as being in line with common sense and majority opinion in Maine (23:48, 33:24, 34:25).

Clay Travis (27:54): Concludes that Trump’s strategic confrontation with the Governor of Maine successfully highlights a deeply divisive issue where he stands with a substantial portion of the American public, contrasting with the Democratic Party’s stance (27:54).

5. Final Thoughts and Optimism for American Brands

Anson Freirex (12:42): Conveys optimism that brands are learning from Bud Light’s mistakes by focusing on authenticity and rebuilding trust with consumers. He believes that American businesses will pivot back to prioritizing customer preferences over political agendas, benefiting shareholder capitalism and democracy (12:42).

Clay Travis (34:43): Reiterates the importance of aligning with the majority’s values and criticizes the Democrat Party for opposing positions that inherently have broad support, further facilitating Trump’s political narrative (34:43).

6. Conclusion

Clay Travis and Buck Sexton wrap up the episode by emphasizing the critical lessons learned from Bud Light’s decline and the broader implications for corporate America. They underscore the importance of understanding and aligning with the consumer base, avoiding unnecessary politicization, and maintaining brand authenticity to regain and sustain trust.

Notable Quotes:

Anson Freirex (01:24): “Maybe you could say that when there was New Coke... they actually learned their lesson. But [Anheuser-Busch] lost 30% of its sales two years ago. It lost another 10% of its sales last year with Bud Light.”
Anson Freirex (02:20): “I think one of the first things they can do... is that they could tell their customers that we were sorry we screwed up.”
Donald Trump (16:01): “You better comply because you're not going to get any federal funding at all if you don't... I look forward to that.”
Clay Travis (06:44): “Bud Light used to be about sports and music and bringing folks together. Never got involved in controversial political issues.”

This episode provides an in-depth analysis of the Bud Light controversy, its impact on corporate America, and the broader political ramifications surrounding gender identity in sports. Through expert insights and passionate discussions, Travis and Sexton illuminate the critical intersections of business decisions, consumer loyalty, and political influence in shaping brand destinies.

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Transcript

Clay Travis (0:00)

Welcome to today's edition of the Clay Travis and Buck Sexton show podcast. Welcome back in Clay Travis, Buck Sexton Show. Appreciate all of you hanging out with us final hour of the week. Encourage you to go subscribe to the Clay and Buck Podcast network. It has been blowing up in a very good way. You can search out my name, Clay Travis. You can search out Buck Sexton. Buck on his way to Colorado for a speaking engagement. I'll close up shop here. We'll both be back together on Monday. Want to tell you right now we are joined by Anson Freirex, former president at Anheuser Busch co founder, Strive Asset Management. His new book, Last Call for Bud Light, the Fall and Future of America's Favorite Beer. And Anson, I appreciate you joining us here. I would submit that the failed Dylan Mulvaney Bud Light deal, the fact that they sent her the Bud Light cans, him, whatever you want to say right around the March Madness tournament, I believe two years ago, Bud Light sales, you can update me on them, I believe, are still down 40%. Is this the most destructive ad endorsement product relationship that has ever existed in modern American capitalism? Can you think of a worse one or is this the worst?

Anson Freirex (1:24)

I mean, Clay, I think this is the worst one. I mean, maybe you could say that when there was New Coke and New Coke came out in the 1980s and that plummeted, everybody hated New Coke. The good thing about the Coke executive, they actually learned their lesson. They say, hey, we screwed up, we apologize, and they went back to the old formula and Coke's doing fine. But that's one of the big problems here, is that this company lost 30% of its sales two years ago. It lost another 10% of its sales last year with Bud Light. It's still declining this year. And one of the reasons is that still no one's taking accountability for this. I mean, the CEO is still there. There's been no apology. And that's why customers really haven't returned here, which is crazy.

Clay Travis (1:59)

What would you do? Let's pretend that they came to you and they said, okay, Bud Light is your business. You have to in some way make it relevant again for the audience that has abandoned it. Is there anything they could do that would, as you point out, they're continuing to decline down 40%. Is the brand dead no matter what, or is there a way to bring it back to life?

Anson Freirex (2:20)

No, I mean, I actually think there's a way to bring this back to life. And I get into this in my book, last Call for Bud Light, which you mentioned about. But I think one of the fundamental problems is that this company, Anheuser Busch, it's no longer American owned. It was actually purchased by a European company called InBev about 15 years ago. And then lots of mistakes were made over that time period. The InBev company moved the corporate headquarters from kind of St. Louis to New York City, brought in a lot of foreign executives that really didn't understand the US Consumer. They adopted a lot of device apology policies of esg. And so a lot of those problems happen. I think a lot of those go away if they actually sell Anheuser Busch here in the U.S. back to U.S. citizens. I mean, sell it to Warren Buffett and Berkshire Hathaway. Sell it to a consortium of firms I know Blackstone and. And Steve Schwarzman's group. Sell it to one of those. I think the first thing they can do, which I think would be good for this. This European business that hasn't been able to really understand the US and it'd be good for the business here, they could focus more here in the US they could bring in American executives. They could bring back, I don't know, a lot of the commercials that we all love. I think even most importantly is that they could tell their customers that we were sorry we screwed up. And that was this old regime. We got rid of it, and now we're moving forward with kind of American regime, American values focused on our customer. We're not going to get involved in any political silliness that we got involved with over the last couple of years. I think that's the first step.

Anson Freirex (4:30)

Yeah, Clay, I mean, you're 100% right about that. This is not just an Anheuser Busch problem. Anheuser Busch was the one that was holding the pin when this whole E. ESG DEI bubble pop two years ago. And they were the first time that you saw that millions of consumers ditched a brand that led to billions of dollars of loss of shareholder value. And this for the first time, I think actually was a wake up call to a lot of the broader corporations. I mean, you don't get the big rollback and ESG and DEI that you're seeing right now without the whole Bud Light example where you all sudden this is the least sustainable thing that a company could do was to pander to a group that wasn't necessarily their customer base. And they got a brand involved in something that wasn't authentically Bud Light. You know, Bud Light used to be about sports and music and bringing folks together. Never got involved in controversial political issues. They lost sight of that because they had marketing people based in New York and they used marketing based New York firms based in New York City. And then that was like one of the bigger issues that we saw really across corporate America. A lot of these firms that were based in St. Louis or in Arkansas or Texas, all of a sudden they were moving a lot of their headquarters in New York, hiring New York firms, taking in advice from a lot of New York based asset management companies. BlackRock is a good example who is foisting an ESG and DEI agenda on them. And so this led to a lot of problems. And you saw a lot of companies that lost their way over the last couple years. I'm actually pleased to say that there's companies like Disney that are at least making the right steps back in the right direction. They fired their CEO Bob Chapek. They brought back Bob Iger. Bob Iger said, we're getting out of politics. We're not doing it anymore. They've rolled back a lot of their DEI policies in recent weeks. Are they perfect? No. But at least they've acknowledged that there was a problem. I hope we're seeing that more across corporate America. I think Anheuser Busch is just a little bit behind the eight ball on getting there.

Anson Freirex (6:44)

Yeah, I mean, 100%. That's what I thought. Because there really hadn't been a very successful, I'll call it, consumer boycott previous to this. You know, of course, people were upset when in the NFL, people were kneeling in the NFL, but what are you going to do? There's no other alternative on Sundays in the NFL. Yeah, people were upset at Disney when Disney got involved in parental rights issues in Florida. But, you know, if your kids want to go to Disney World, not a lot of alternatives. Bud Light was uniquely susceptible to this massive boycott, really, for two reasons, is that they have a commoditized brand where everywhere there's Bud Light. There's also Miller Lite and Coors Light at the exact same price. And then secondarily, people could actually see the impact of this boycott. Every single week, there's sales data from retailers like Walmart and Kroger and 711 that gets reported. So every week, you were seeing in real time that Bud Light sales were down 10%, 20%, 30%, 40%. And then with the effect of social media, you had everybody that was posting photos and videos online of like the Bud Light line at a baseball game empty and a coors light line 30 deep. And so that has just had this big impact on the business that they didn't realize how susceptible they were because for 95% of the American population, they can't tell the difference between Bud Light, Miller Light, Coors Light. The only thing that differentiates them is their brand. And Bud Light used to be that fun sports music, backyard barbecuing, kind of like Americana brand that you're talking about. All the guys used to drink at tailgates as the most acceptable brand of the biggest beer brand. And then when they lost that identity and all the sudden it became this almost like brand like Ben and Jerry's. Where are they advocating for certain social issues and more progressive causes by getting involved with Dylan Mulvanium and not even being able to articulate to the customer what the brand stands for moving forward. I mean, you. You remember that right after this happened, their CEO had multiple botched attempts of trying to talk about Bud Light, never apologize their loyal customer base that was called Friday out of touch. Nor talked their more progressive customer base and said, you know, hey, we're going to be more like Ben and Jerry's And I don't know, when you walk in the middle of a cultural battlefield, they ended. Shot at from both sides.

Anson Freirex (10:34)

I mean, there, there, there is a lawsuit mechanism if you, you know, if you go back, really the lawsuits that are coming out right now goes back to really the Civil Rights act of 1964, which essentially says that you cannot discriminate based off of race, sex, gender, national origin, et cetera. And a lot of retailers, I mean, Target was one of these. And in the post George Floyd era, that they came out with a lot of essentially racist policies against certain people. They Said that you we are going to hire a certain quota of people that look this way. Target was allocating shelf space at their stores based off of race, sex, color. That just doesn't make any sense in the society we're living in. I mean we live in a meritocracy. You should be able to put the products on the shelf that sell. That's the right thing for, for the customer. That's the right thing for your shareholder value as well. I think that's the bigger issue that Target's facing is like why are you pushing forward with a certain really social type agenda as opposed to putting what sells? And I think that the bigger issue with Target was, you know, when you walk into a Target store, their most valuable real estate is that first big display area right when you walk in. And when they're putting tuck friendly bathing suits across every single Target across America. Well that's not what the majority of their customer base wants. And that's not good for shareholders. Not good for shareholder value. Yes, I think the lawsuits will make sure that they're abiding by sort of the Civil Rights act and making sure that they're not discriminating against people. I think even more importantly, I think that the American consumer has gone to Walmart, has gone to other areas and Target stock price has been in the tank over the last year or two since this controversy. I think what's going to turn around is again Target recommitting this fundamental principles of serving their customers, bringing customers back by giving more of the products of what they want. I think that's the more effective way to get this thing turned around. And consumers again just vote with your wallets. That's the more effective way to get back to serving all customers.

Clay Travis (16:30)

Oh, man, that is incredible. That just happened. The governor of Maine is saying she will see Trump in court over whether men should be able to play women's sports. This is emblematic, I think, of the Trump derangement syndrome that has taken over in the Democrat Party. They are taking constantly positions that 20% of the population agrees with and fighting with Trump over them. Of all the things you could disagree with Trump on in Maine, can you imagine saying, I'm going to fight to the death over whether men can compete in women's sports? We got a lot of people listening in Maine. And Trump is right. I believe he only lost maine by about 6 or 7 points, if I remember the math. Meaning a solid 45% ish or 46% of Maine voters support Trump. But even in Maine, this is like a 9010 issue. And for this to be the ground that Democrats have decided this is where we're putting our feet in, this is what we're not going to give any ground on. I just, I can't believe this is real. That was a masterclass that we just played. That just happened a few minutes ago of Trump with the main governor in the White House. Look, it's coming into the weekend. You're going to have great meals with your family. How about upgrade today with some American meat fish delivered right to your door? Now, you guys know I'm not a cook. I can't make anything out there. But my wife is a great cook. Fortunately enough for our boys they are getting good ranchers. She is doing a fabulous job taking care of it. Buck just stepped out to start his travel to Colorado but he loves the chicken nuggets. He eats them like crazy. I'm here to tell you the steaks amazing. The seafood is fantastic. Go get signed up right now. Farmers and ranchers in America working tirelessly to feed our families. No seed oils, no added hormones. All great tasting Beef, chicken and salmon all from the good old USA. Get hooked up today. Goodranchers.com use my name Clay for $25 off when you make your purchase. That's Goodranchers.com my name Clay for 25 bucks off news coming fast and furious as it sometimes does. On Friday, Buck will be back with me. He's on his way to Colorado. Speak to many of you out there. I just played for you. Trump going head to head with the Democrat governor of Maine over whether men should be allowed to play in women's sports. I can't believe that that is the policy that has been adopted by the Democrat Party. But as we were in break, more breaking news. Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass, we talked about her earlier this week for being virtually absent with the wildfires. In fact, we played a clip for you where she said they were doing an investigation into why she decided to be in Ghana as opposed to in Los Angeles when there was deadly wildfires potentially on the horizon. Well, now she is trying to shift the blame. This just happened in the last few minutes. Karen Bass announced she has fired the Los Angeles Fire Department Chief Kristen Crowley, effective immediately and she's going to hold a press conference soon. Rick Caruso, who ran against Karen Bass for mayor of Los Angeles, has weighed in already. This is what he said on Twitter slash x. It's very disappointing. Mayor Bass has decided to fire Chief Kristen Crowley. Chief Crowley served Los Angeles well and spoke honestly about the severe and profoundly ill conceived budget cuts the Bass administration made to the LA Fire Department. That courage to speak the truth was brave and I admire her honesty in a high city official should not be a firing offense. The mayor's decision to ignore the warnings and leave the city was hers alone. This is a time for city leaders to take responsibility for their actions and their decisions. We need real leadership, not more blame passing. That is Rick Caruso who was in the runoff with Karen Bass. And you'll remember Elon Musk came out and said, I think thousands more people would still have their homes if Rick Caruso had been in charge instead of Karen Bass. And the evidence for that is that Rick Caruso was able to keep his shopping centers in the Pacific Palisades area from burning down because he had private support to try to ensure that the flames didn't spread to his buildings. And the expectation is that he wouldn't have been in Ghana and he might have had the entire LA Fire Department mobilized in a way to allow them to fight these fires. He may not have made the cuts. And this is important. And maybe our team can go back and find the audio because there was a viral story suggesting that Karen Bass had fired this fire department chief beforehand because the fire department chief said publicly we didn't have the resources to be able to fight this. And so this is again, major breaking news as the fallout from the LA wildfires continues. Karen Bass, mayor of Los Angeles, trying to find someone to blame for the failure of the city of Los Angeles to respond and protect its citizens homes. And so she is now saying the fire chief is fired. We'll pull that clip because I think this is ultimately going to come down to an argument over who's to blame. Was it the fire chief or was it the mayor who was more culpable in what I think almost everyone out there, Democrat, Republican, independent, in the LA area and beyond, acknowledges was a completely failed response to those awful wildfires that came through recently. Bunch of you want to weigh in? We'll take some of your calls. To close up the Friday edition of the show, Chris, in Sanford, Maine, I just played the clip of the Democrat governor of Maine arguing with Donald Trump about whether men should be able to play women's sports. What do you think? What's your read on the ground there in Maine for how this is going to play Trump versus the governor over this issue?

Clay Travis (25:04)

Thank you for the call. We'll open up if other people from Maine want to weigh in. What I would say in general about this is it is insane to me that it has become Democrat Party orthodoxy to support men identifying as women, being able to win women's championships. And I would implore the Senate to take up this bill that passed the House. Only two Democrat representatives in the entire country signed on to a bill that said you should be competing in all sports based on the gender on your birth certificate. The fact that the governor of Maine would be going to war and saying, bragging, I'll see you in court because she's refusing to follow a federal directive is political suicide to me. Now, I will say this. The reason the Senate needs to act is the force of Donald Trump's pen. And executive order is strong and powerful. But you also need to undergird it with the support of Congress, because when you pass a bill that codifies what Trump is saying, to the credit of the ncaa, they have followed this rule. Many states have. But until the federal legislation is passed, there's going to be an argument about whether Trump has the executive authority to undertake this action. I think he does from a legal perspective. But that's what the governor of Maine is saying when she's saying, I'll see you in court without Congress having stepped in and taken this act, she's going to argue that Trump unilaterally, by executive order, doesn't have the authority to mandate what he is. And again, the Senate, John Thune, bring this up on the Senate floor. And I give credit to Trump to me, this is a brilliant, rhetorical, tactical move, he said as the governor of Maine here, and he called her out directly to her face. Let me, I think we still have that audio, but if you haven't heard it, it's extraordinary because it crystallized can be hard to ignore. It crystallizes Trump's perspective and the Democrat perspective in one sound bite that is going to be reverberating everywhere. Let me play this one more time and then we'll take some calls to close up the Friday edition of the program. But this just happened in the White House. Trump versus the Democrat governor of Maine over the question of can Maine continue to allow men who identify as women to compete in athletics in their state? The governor says they can. Trump says they can't.

Clay Travis (28:38)

Amazing. This is so incredible. Trump set this up. He knew the governor of Maine was there. He knew that she was defying him in the White House. That couldn't have gone any better for him. He just took an 80 moving towards 90% issue that all sorts of rational people, guys, 66% roughly of Democrats agree with Trump on this issue. It's like 94, 95, 5 for Republicans. Two thirds of Democrats agree with him. This according to New York Times poll. It's not me just like tossing out things. 80% nationwide, including roughly 2/3 of Democrats. And Maine, to Trump's point, is not a state that he lost by 20 some odd points. Maine could vote Republican in 2028. It's up there with New Jersey, Virginia states, New Mexico that were not that far away from flipping red five, six points kind of there in the margin. You talk to the Trump team, they say, man, if we had had the money that Kamala had. If we'd had the one and a half billion dollars that Kamala raised, we could have won New Jersey, we could have won Virginia. We would have been able to be more aggressive in the way that we spent money. Right now. Look at what's going on. They're trying to flip the New Jersey governor's race to Red. Scott Pressler did all the work to try to flip Pennsylvania back. Red, he get. He did, but he's now got a major project underway to register as many people in New Jersey as possible to flip this back. How do you flip it back? By being on the right side of an 8020 issue. By being on the right side of an issue that 2/3 of Democrats actually agree with you on that isn't even remotely political. Trump has taken advantage of the Democrat Trump derangement syndrome that they have decided whatever Trump says they oppose. And think about the things that they're opposing now. Men in men's sports, women and women's sports, they're opposed to that. Waste and fraud in the federal government, shutting down the southern border, deporting violent criminals. Trump is choosing things that substantial majorities of the American public agree with him on that aren't even historically political in nature, being on the right side of them. And Democrats are crazily lining up to oppose him. And we just got it crystallized directly from the White House. It has now become Democrat Party orthodoxy that men pretending to be women are able to win women's championships. It's crazy. And speaking of championships, unfortunately, we lost to Canada yesterday. 3, 2 in overtime. A lot of you watched that match last night. Didn't end till nearly midnight on the East Coast. But whatever sport you like, prize picks can hook you up, whether it's Major League Baseball about to come back, whether it's nascar, whether it is the NBA, college basketball, whatever sport you love, price picks has an opportunity for you to play. I'm down here in Florida right now. You can play in Florida. You can play in California, you can play in Texas, you can play in Georgia. 40 states, 13 million people playing. Download the app today, and you can have a lot of fun and get hooked up with $50. When you play $5, all you have to do is go to prizepix.com, use my name, Clay. That's prizepix.com my name, Clay. $50 instantly when you play your first $5 lineup. Again, that's my name, Clay. $50 Instantly when you sign up. You can play it all over the station, all over the nation. 40 roughly states out there, including California, Texas, Georgia. If you've been feeling left behind. Prizepix.com My name, Clay. That is prizepix.com My Name, Clay. For 50 bucks, we are rolling through the conclusion of the show. My thanks to Buck, by the way, and Carrie, his lovely wife, for hosting us down here the past several days. We'll be back in Nashville on Monday where the weather will be nowhere near as nice as it has been down here. Buck on his way out to Colorado for a speaking engagement. Several of you want to weigh in. Jane, in Bangor, Maine, what do you think about the conflict you just heard straight up from the White House between your governor and the president?