Ad Agency Behind Tranheuser-Busch's Dylan Mulvaney "Promotion" Slashes Staff by 5%

Back in June, the New York Post reported that "Captiv8," the "influencer marketing firm" widely believed to be behind Tranheuser-Busch's Dylan Mulvaney promotion -- a suspicion that T-B refuses to confirm or deny -- was in a "panic" after the enormous and unending backlash that followed the hiring of the transfluencer.

An eight-year-old marketing firm out of San Francisco was responsible for Bud Light's partnership with Dylan Mulvaney -- and the disastrous tie-up sent the firm into "serious panic mode," The Post has learned.

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"There was a lot of chatter" among employees about what blowback the firm might face over the botched campaign, according to the source.

"Internally, the company was in serious panic mode," the source added.

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It couldn't immediately be learned whether Captiv8 -- which claims to have a database of more than 1 million influencers on YouTube, TikTok, Instagram and Twitter -- was also responsible for the now-infamous Bud Light beer can that bore Mulvaney's image.

It also wasn't clear whether Captiv8 played a direct role in producing Mulvaney's TikTok video.

Captiv8 didn't respond to repeated requests for comment.
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Subramanian has made himself available for media interviews as an expert on influencer marketing.

In February, he spoke to the Wall Street Journal about the importance of viral videos around blockbuster ad events including the Super Bowl.

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Captiv8 appears to have returned to "business as usual" following the initial panic set off by the Mulvaney crisis, according to the source.

Bud Light parent Anheuser-Busch InBev, which also didn't respond to requests for comment, has been tight-lipped on the origins of the ill-fated Mulvaney campaign.

I had that article open in a tab for a couple of weeks. I didn't post it because while the claim was made that Captiv8 was in "serious panic mode," there was no reporting that they had suffered any tangible negative results, apart from rumors that Bud Light had fired them. It seemed to me that the story could be made-up bullsh*t -- I mean, how can you confirm or dispel a claim that a company is in "serious panic mode"? What is the exact definition of that? How many people at the company need to be "panicked," and to what level must they be panicked?

I wanted something real and confirmable to establish the company really was "panicked."

Well, now, after two months, I can finally post that article.

Because Captiv8 fired 5% of its staff in July. This story is dated today but I guess the media only just confirmed the firings.

The swells in the agency took a trip to Cannes just before cutting staff. Which is a very TikTok Influencer move.

The marketing firm behind Bud Light's catastrophic link-up with transgender influencer Dylan Mulvaney has fired more than a dozen employees days after bragging about a lavish trip to Cannes.

Captiv8 jetted off to the Cannes-Lions film festival in June with members of staff on the bespoke private jet.

The California-based firm bragged about the experience using La Compagnie, a business class-only airline whose plane they booked in its entirety, before they canned 13 of their workers on July 5.

One employee branded CEO Krishna Subramanian as 'tone deaf' to the New York Post, adding that those who were fired made up around five percent of the 200 employees at the company.

Social media posts show members of staff and Subramanian enjoying parties on yachts, drinking champagne and cocktails around a pool and partying in villas in the South of France.

The team-up with MasterCard and Rolling Stone saw them bragging across social media, with Subramanian posting several clips and pictures on his own page.

One current employee said: 'They said they were investing in the future of the company and building relationships.

'Maybe they could have saved jobs instead of blowing all of this money in Cannes.'

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The company said the junket was 'paid for in tandem with our brand partners and clients, having no impact on the company's overall bottom line', as well as being a 'meaningful business development lever for Captiv8.'

Attendees of the event were gifted bags with skin and beauty products, designer sunglasses, free booze and personalized luggage tags.

Subramanian has previously touted himself as an 'expert on influencer marketing' in a series of interviews in the mainstream media -- before the Bud Light disaster.

Bud Light has previously pointed the finger at a 'third party' marketing company for the blunder, but remained tight-lipped when asked to identify them.

Update: The media was told there would be no math in this profession.

It's closer to 7% staff cut, not 5. 13/200=6.5%

They are Big Dummies.

Posted by: hamitchell

posted by Ace at 01:15 PM

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