"Shark Tank" investor Kevin O'Leary recently spoke out about the ongoing backlash Anheuser Busch InBev SA (BUD) has faced since introducing TikTok celebrity Dylan Mulvaney as one of its spokespeople.
O'Leary tweeted about the topic on May 23, saying that Bud Light has become the "poster boy for brand mismanagement."
READ MORE: Anheuser Busch Just Tanked One of Its Biggest Customer Satisfaction Ratings
In an appearance on Fox News, O'Leary goes into more of his thoughts about the bungled ad campaign.
"Let me lay it out for you, because the discussions that have arisen, the narrative that arisen around Bud Light, is probably a good lesson for every CEO and every sector of the economy," O'Leary said. "Number one, it highlights the power of social media. This issue went viral in 48 hours. And most often when an issue goes viral like that, in burns out in another 48 hours. But that's not what happened here."
O'Leary explains that people that did not like the message boycotted the product immediately, choosing other brands that did not make them get involved in what Mulvaney stands for, as she is a trans woman.
"Here we are talking about it in its second month," O'Leary goes on. "This is a nightmare from hell for the brand. In crisis management, what do you do? Because if you go to the other side and try and balance the gender narrative, you're going to get a whole new onslaught of people that don't like that. So when you go into gender narrative on a beer that is primarily consumed by men, maybe you should have thought a little bit about that in reading that room -- does this really fit my consumers' psyche and narrative?"
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