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Bud Light: Cheaper than water? Retailers in US try to unload Bud Light after anti-trans backlash
On a recent steamy Sunday afternoon, customers strolled through the aisles of Glenn Miller’s Beer & Soda Warehouse. People going for picnics, graduations and other gatherings in Lemoyne, a Pennsylvania community, glide into the store, past countless beer stalls, with crates of top brands stacked on top of each other. . Besides the 30 packs of Miller Lite, on sale for $24. 99, sitting a pile of Bud Light. A large banner above it notes that, after the discount, a pack of 30 is only $8. 99. Andy Wagner, the store’s manager and 18-year veteran, says Miller Lite is selling well. And Bud Light? Not much. “At this point, it’s cheaper than some of the water tanks we’re selling in the back,” Wagner said, noting that sales of bud light in-store since mid-April is down 45% from a year ago. “It’s just not moving like before.”
Almost three months after the influencer transitioned Dylan Mulvaney posted a video on her Instagram account promoting the Bud Light contest, sparking online outrage from the right and a boycott, the beer brand still struggling to win back loyal customers. Famous voices in support of the boycott include musician Kid Rock, who posted a video of him filming a stack of Bud Light boxes.
For more than two decades, Bud Light has been the best-selling beer in America. Its sales exceeded $5 billion last year, accounting for about 9% of brewer Anheuser-Busch InBev’s sales. But since being boycotted, Bud Light has been dethroned by Special model. In the four weeks ending mid-June, nationwide BudLight sales fell an average of 29% from a year earlier, according to data from research firm NIQ. Shares of Anheuser-Busch have also fallen more than 15% since early April. Brendan Whitworth, managing director of AnheuserBusch North America, admitted that the past few weeks have been “challenging”. “The conversation around Bud Light has moved away from beer,” he said, adding that he was responsible for the impact of the controversy. When asked if he would continue to run campaigns with a transgender influencer, Whitworth did not respond directly.
The criticism comes as Republican state legislators are proposing legislation to regulate the lives of young transgender people, limit drag shows and require schools to hand over students. transgender for their parents. Wagner said Anheuser-Busch made a mistake when their marketing broke what he called “bar rules”. That means “no politics, no religion.”
Almost three months after the influencer transitioned Dylan Mulvaney posted a video on her Instagram account promoting the Bud Light contest, sparking online outrage from the right and a boycott, the beer brand still struggling to win back loyal customers. Famous voices in support of the boycott include musician Kid Rock, who posted a video of him filming a stack of Bud Light boxes.
For more than two decades, Bud Light has been the best-selling beer in America. Its sales exceeded $5 billion last year, accounting for about 9% of brewer Anheuser-Busch InBev’s sales. But since being boycotted, Bud Light has been dethroned by Special model. In the four weeks ending mid-June, nationwide BudLight sales fell an average of 29% from a year earlier, according to data from research firm NIQ. Shares of Anheuser-Busch have also fallen more than 15% since early April. Brendan Whitworth, managing director of AnheuserBusch North America, admitted that the past few weeks have been “challenging”. “The conversation around Bud Light has moved away from beer,” he said, adding that he was responsible for the impact of the controversy. When asked if he would continue to run campaigns with a transgender influencer, Whitworth did not respond directly.
The criticism comes as Republican state legislators are proposing legislation to regulate the lives of young transgender people, limit drag shows and require schools to hand over students. transgender for their parents. Wagner said Anheuser-Busch made a mistake when their marketing broke what he called “bar rules”. That means “no politics, no religion.”
