Florida CFO Jimmy Patronis debated New York City Comptroller Brad Lander on culture wars with brands, such as Bud Light, going woke.
The debate unfolded on CNBC’s Squawk Box Friday.
“So, here’s the way I look at it. I grew up in the restaurant business for 30 years,” said Patronis. My family is still in it. I can’t ever divorce myself from the passion I grew up in. I was at the restaurant the other day and was talking to my brothers. We were just talking shop, and look; we feed everybody we are in the customer service as everybody’s a customer. But I know this, where Bud Light was our number one selling beer in the restaurant, in a week, we sold about six servings. So again, there’s no demand for it. The customers are walking away from it.”
“It’s going to be painful for a long time. They (Bud Light) treated their customers like they were idiots. They forgot who their customer was,” said Patronis.
In the news: Florida Gov. DeSantis Slams Republicans Who Criticized His Battle With Disney
Lander shot back at Patronis, calling him “CFO DeSantis” redirecting the conversation to Disney and insurance, and avoiding answering questions on the topic.
“What I don’t understand is like why you would go attacking Disney, attacking one of your largest employers in your state?” asked Lander. “Our economy is doing well; crime is lower here than it is in Florida.”
“What I would ask CFO DeSantis is what’s a bigger threat to the long-term thriving of the economy and the pension funds. Is it fossil fuels, rising seas in temperatures (inaudible), or is it Mickey Mouse,” said Lander.
“Talk to China and India,” a host of the Squawk Box could be heard saying.
The host switched topics and directed the question to Patronis on the ongoing battle between Disney and Florida Governor Ron DeSantis.
“They (Disney) engaged politically, they brought attention to the fact they had a carve-out because people started inquiring. So again, this was, whether you want to say Governor DeSantis retaliated on them, on the position they took after the bill was signed, we’re going to finger point on that all day long, but Disney doesn’t have a DeSantis problem, Disney has a Disney problem,” said Patronis.
“They brought attention, ‘I’ve got special privileges that nobody else in the state has’ that creates jealousy and that becomes a need for fairness,” said Patronis.
Joseph Swartz of New York City commented on Twitter, “The most pathetic politician in NYC – the city doesn’t even need the figurehead known as Comptroller. If our Comptroller, Brad Lander, would focus on NYC retirees’ pensions, like he’s supposed to do, maybe he won’t lose billions of dollars like he did last year!”
“@NYCComptroller didn’t answer any questions you asked and not once did you press him, wonder why,” said Jurt Odell in response to the video.
In the news: ESG Empire Strikes Back Following Bud Light Boycott
Imports from Mexico have displaced Americans at the top of the heap — and no, this is not because of President Joe Biden’s open borders policy. At least not yet.
Rather, thank Dylan Mulvaney.
Modelo Especial, a Mexican beer, has replaced Bud Light as the best-selling beer in America.
Bud Light, which is facing a fierce and sustained backlash from conservatives for its ad campaign featuring Mulvaney, a transgender social media influencer, racked up $297 million in sales during May.
Modelo Especial, by contrast, posted $333 million last month.
In the news :Amid Mulvaney Backlash And Boycotts, Bud Light Donates $200,000 To LGBT Business Org
Modelo’s year-over-year sales spiked almost 16% in May, while Bud Light, whose losing streak is now entering a third month, fell by nearly 23%.
Ironically, Anheuser Busch, Bud Light’s parent company, has owned most of the global makers of Modelo Especial since 2013. But according to Newsweek, federal regulators forced the company to unload Modelo’s U.S. holdings to New York-based Constellation Brands to maintain competition in America’s beer market.
“We thought that would take a little longer,” Bill Newlands, the CEO of Constellation, told Newsweek. “We’ve been very fortunate that, that’s gone a little quicker than we had anticipated. But what a great position to be in on the beer side.”
Bud Light has been battered in the beer market since April 1, when it was revealed the company had produced cans featuring Mulvaney’s image. The company made them to help Mulvaney celebrate his first year of “girlhood.”
In the news : Bud Light Still Sinking Amid Mulvaney Backlash
Since then, social media posts have shown retailers offering to give away Bud Light just to unload it, while singers popular with conservatives, like Kid Rock and Travis Tritt, have disowned the brand. The satire website Babylon Bee once joked that men drinking Cosmopolitans were mocking others who drank Bud Light.
One analyst suggested Bud Light may never recover from this self-inflicted damage.
According to Newsmax, Dave Williams, vice president of analytics and insights at the firm Bump Williams Consulting, noted, “Unless Bud Light starts to experience a serious course correction in terms of performance, which can only come from consumers finding their way back into the brand family, then that firm grip on the No. 1 rank by year-end loosens a bit more every week.”
“Companies invest a lot into being front and center and top of mind during this [summer] season, as there is only so much floor space to allocate, consumer money to spend and beer occasions to fulfill,” Williams added. “If a brand misses those opportunities, then that is almost impossible to fully recover that lost potential over the balance of the calendar year.”
Android Users, Click To Download The Free Press App And Never Miss A Story. Follow Us On Facebook and Twitter. Signup for our free newsletter.
We can’t do this without your help; visit our GiveSendGo page and donate any dollar amount; every penny helps.