Anheuser-Busch CEO Brendan Whitworth has seen his share of action, first . First, as a Marine Corps officer in Iraq, then as an officer with the CIA's clandestine service. Yes, the chief of what used to be the country's top beer used to be an American spy.
Hopefully, his experience taught him to handle stress and pressure, because few business leaders have experienced the kind he's felt for the past three months. Whitworth sat down with “CBS Mornings” to open up about the controversy that has embroiled Bud Light since its March 2023 sponsorship agreement with transgender actress Dylan Mulvaney.
“There's a big social conversation taking place right now, and big brands are right in the middle of it,” he told the “CBS Mornings” hosts. “It's not just our industry or Bud Light. It's happening in retail, happening in fast food. And so for us, what we need to understand, deeply understand and appreciate, is the consumer and what they want, what they care about and what they expect from big brands.”
He would not comment on whether the sponsorship was a mistake, but said he was more concerned about its effect on the company's 65,000 employees, many of whom faced bomb threats and other acts of violence in the face of the sponsorship's conservative backlash.
Whitworth is no stranger to hard work. The Anheuser-Busch chief studied for business school while deployed to Baghdad and prepared to take the Graduate Management Admission…
