Dive Brief:

• Jury selection began Monday in a sex-discrimination lawsuit, in which a former top executive alleges that Anheuser-Busch created a locker-room environment and discriminated against women.
• The plaintiff in the case is Francine Katz, the former vice president for communications and public affairs for A-B and the highest-ranking woman at the company.
• Katz spent 20 years at A-B and alleges the brewer paid her less than her male predecessor and gave her fewer stock options than male executives as part of a systemic, cultural bias against women. 

Dive Insight:

The city of St. Louis is captivated by the allegations in the case and the likelihood that multiple generations of Busch-family men will be called to testify. 

But outside of St. Louis, the story isn't resonating ... yet.

We expect that to change. A-B's Budweiser is one of America's iconic brews, and nearly everyone knows it as 'the king of beers." Linking this market recognition with Katz' formidable skills as a communicator, and her extensive connections with the media, nearly guarantees that the case will develop a national audience.