Posts spread fake story on Anheuser-Busch CEO resignation

"The shakeup at Anheuser Busch continues in the wake of what may have been the dumbest thing a company could ever conceivably do. CEO Augustus Anheuser III left the corporate headquarters in shame after tendering his resignation," said an article that first appeared April 6, 2023 on the Dunning-Kruger Times.

The website describes itself as part of a "network of parody, satire, and tomfoolery," and says that "everything on this website is fiction" on its About US link.

But the same and similar posts were shared without disclaimers on Facebook, Instagram and TikTok, getting thousands of views and interactions.

Those sharing the claim commented that the beer giant was feeling the impact of a backlash over its ad campaign for Bud Light featuring transgender TikTok influencer Dylan Mulvaney.

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Screenshot of an article taken on April 11, 2023 ( Rob Lever)

The beer giant did face calls for a boycott after the ad campaign incited anti-LGBTQ sentiment among conservatives. But the story is fabricated.

The current CEO of Anheuser-Busch is Brendan Whitworth and the name Augustus Anheuser III does not appear on a list of executives of the beer giant or its parent firm AB InBev.

Additionally, the original article and many of the posts being shared used a photo of Jerry Sandusky, the former football coach at Penn State University convicted on child molestation changes.

The story "is false and our CEO has not resigned," Anheuser-Busch said in a statement emailed to AFP on April 10.

AFP and other fact-checking organizations have debunked numerous stories published by sites affiliated with America's Last Line of Defense.

The network's founder Christopher Blair told AFP in 2020 "confirmation bias" leads people to believe and share the articles. "These people are told that they're sharing satire, and it doesn't matter," he said. "The truth is no longer important to them. All they care about is holding on to their hate and fear."