Update: Someone took offense to improper pronouns in this article, so I made corrections…
Bud Light’s sales drop is accelerating amid Dylan Mulvaney fiasco — and is now spilling into other Bud brands
Bud Light’s downward spiral has accelerated in the wake of the Dylan Mulvaney debacle — and the carnage has begun to spill into Anheuser-Busch’s other mega-buck brands, The Post has learned.
Nationwide retail sales of Bud Light were down 23.4% versus a year ago in the week of April 29 — worse than the 21.4% decline it suffered a week earlier, according to Bump Williams Consulting and NielsenIQ data.
Meanwhile, as beer drinkers discover how many other beer brands fall under the Anheuser-Busch umbrella, the backlash is widening, according to the fresh data.
The company’s flagship Budweiser brand took an 11.4% sales hit for the week ended April 29.
Sales of Bud’s Michelob Ultra brand — the third-biggest-selling in the US behind No. 1 Bud Light and No. 2 Modelo Especial — were down 4.4%, according to Bump Williams data.
“It’s not just a Bud Light issue,” said Bump Williams, chief executive of the consultancy.
“It’s an Anheuser-Busch portfolio problem now.”
Anheuser-Busch’s smaller US brands also got dinged, with its Natural Light brand down 5.2% and its Busch Light seeing a 1.8% drop.
The widening sales declines mark a painful hit for Bud’s dominant US beer business.
Last year, sales of Bud Light topped $4.8 billion, according to the Connecticut-based firm.
“If Bud Light doesn’t fix its trend by the end of this month, it will continue to lose market share because it will lose Memorial Day. That kicks off the summer season,” Williams told The Post. “There has to be a sense of urgency for InBev to correct these trends.”
It’s the fourth consecutive week of double-digit sales drops linked to Anheuser-Busch’s brief marketing tie-up with the transgender influencer, which began on April 1 when Mulvaney posted videos of himself sitting in a bubble bath drinking Bud Light.
“Anecdotally we are hearing that sales of Bud Light are declining more rapidly at bars and restaurants where some consumers don’t want to be seen drinking it or they are getting into arguments over the brand,” said Benj Steinman, editor of Beer Marketer’s Insights.
Rival brewers, meanwhile, are gaining market share at Bud Light’s expense.
Coors Light and Miller Light each saw a more than 20% sales increase in the week ended April 29 compared to a year ago, according to Bump Williams and Nielsen data.
Pabst Blue Ribbon was up 18.9% while Keystone Light saw a 15% bump over the same period.
The shocking collapse of the nation’s No. 1 beer, which is experiencing one of the most emotionally charged boycotts ever, shows no signs of letting up even as Anheuser-Busch chief executive, Michel Doukeris tries to distance the company from the ill-fated Mulvaney partnership.
“We need to clarify the facts that this was one can, one influencer, one post, and not a campaign,” Doukeris told investors during an earnings call last week.
There’s only one reason to drink Bud Light – at some level it’s America iconic; it and the Clydesdales (over years of respectful marketing)!represent middle America. Take that away, and what do you have left: The exact opposite of middle America, the opposite of Americana, in fact the carefully crafted message of the precise opposite and enemy of middle America … and, a beer we never thought was all that good anyway.
No going back.
I never understood how it got to #1 in the first place. It’s awful, clearly inferior to Miller Lite or Coors Light, or even their own Natty Light!
Marketing got it to # 1. Sometimes the product speaks for itself. Sometimes it needs a little boost from the makers of fashion – which is what makes this fable especially sweet: Marketing giveth (Americana), marketing taketh away(dystopia).
Women like Bud Light. It was for years the most popular beer for the ladies.
Anheuser-Busch isn’t really even American anymore. Brazilian and Belgian investors took them over and they merged with InBev.
PBR me ASAP 🤣
Why perpetuate this fallacy of him being a woman? He is not, nor will he ever be.
“ April 1 when Mulvaney posted videos of HERSELF sitting in a bubble bath drinking Bud Light.”
I didn’t write it. It goes without saying that HE’S A MAN, AND WILL ALWAYS BE A MAN.
If there is ever leadership that channels the frustration we are experiencing into meaningful boycotts one product at a time, that will be a day we might put enough hurt on these corporations to make a difference.
The left is in lock-step with each other. United.
The right can’t agree what day it is, and we are not united.
They are more effective.
Good, this is the way.
Don’t wait for some republiCan’t leader to lead the way. Do it yourself.
Don’t let any wormtongue republiCan’t people talk you into backing down. Know these as the enemy and put them aside.
And don’t make the mistake we always do of inevitably playing the Father of the prodigal son. The prodigal son was a true repentant. These companies will make many statements pretending to do that, but really aren’t. We’re past that point. We need to make examples. You have a guy against the ropes, you keep him there until he is completely knocked out, because the moment you stop they’ll take a breath then they and 10 more guys are gonna come at you and never relent until you are dead.
You are no longer up against rational actors or honest logical thinking human beings. You are up against Hell. Make an example of this one that puts permanent fear in the rest of them. Your children’s survival and souls depend on it – literally depend on it!
Not too long ago, the lefties tried to do a boycott of their own against a Harry Potter video-game, because for all her liberal-ness, JK Rowling, refused to bow to the Transinsanity. It spectacularly failed and is one of the most successful games of all time sales-wise. I’m not saying you should support Rowling or buy Harry Potter – but want to highlight that the enemy are actually very few in number, and only have the illusion of consensus and cultural power. Purchasing power proves this.