Sales for Bud Light dropped 28 percent for the week ended June 24 amid controversy surrounding the firm’s decision to engage in promoting a transgender social media influencer, according to data from an industry analyst
Bump Williams Consulting’s data show that while Bud Light’s sales again dropped when compared to the year-ago period, sales for other beers, such as Yuengling Lager, Coors Light, and Miller Lite, have risen. Those beers have seen increases of 22 percent, 19 percent, and 16 percent, respectively, during the same week, data show, according to multiple news reports.
Another tracking firm, Circana, said that the decline represents a $26.3 million loss in sales compared to a year ago. Coors Light and Mexican beer Modelo Especial, meanwhile, each saw their sales grow by about $10.4 million in the same period, the company’s data revealed.
The drop in sales comes months after a promotional incident with TikTok star Dylan Mulvaney, a transgender activist, which sparked controversy among consumers. Singers Travis Tritt, Kid Rock, and others suggested a boycott of the popular beer, while the company has since parted ways with two top executives.
In a bid to restore its brand, Bud Light reverted to older themes, rolling out a campaign with Kansas City Chiefs star Travis Kelce. The commercial features Mr. Kelce and others dressed in summer attire sitting on lawn chairs accompanied by grunts and groans as they drink Bud Light, which was criticized en masse on social media by prominent conservative commentators, who suggested the brand apologize and address the Mulvaney controversy.
“The Fourth of July is the biggest beer holiday in terms of retail sales and an opportunity to move a lot of volume,” Dave Williams, the vice president for analytics and insights at Bump Williams Consulting, told the New York Post this week, referring to the latest sales slump. “And there has been no notable signs where the course has changed for Bud Light.”
The numbers also show that the brand’s sales volumes declined 31.1 percent in the week ended June 17, while in the week ended June 10, sales were 30.3 percent lower than the same week last year. For the Fourth of July holiday weekend, the company released a $15 rebate for 15-packs of Bud Light and Budweiser, meaning that the company is essentially giving beer away for free in some locations where a 15-pack costs about $15.
Over the past weekend, some social media users posted videos store shelves with Bud Light and Budweiser stacked. One video, shot from an undisclosed location, appeared to have been captured around the Fourth of July weekend.
“Bud Light is not selling. This is garbage beer,” TikTok user Philip Hawkins said in a clip, which could not be authenticated by The Epoch TImes. “Check it out: even with the coupon, nobody wants this,” he added, referring to a July 4th promotion by the brand giving American buyers a $15 rebate, which in some places would make a case cost less than $5.
In the wake of the transgender campaign fiasco, Anheuser-Busch CEO Brendan Whitworth released a statement suggesting the firm was surprised by the fallout and did not take a strong stand on either side of the LGBT issue. Conservatives said it wasn’t an apology and suggested the company would keep backing LGBT groups, while LGBT advocates claimed it didn’t go far enough.
And last week, Mr. Whitworth was asked point-blank about the transgender controversy and said that “over the last month we’ve talked to over 100,000 consumers and their feedback is very clear.” He added, “The feedback is to reinforce what Bud Light has always meant to them, which is good times, goodwill, and easy enjoyment.”
His remarks prompted a former Anheuser-Busch executive, Aaron Frericks, to call for his ouster in a Daily Mail opinion article this month, arguing that Mr. Whitworth, a former CIA agent, has “failed to fix” the crisis.
“He made his first public appearance since the debacle on CBS Morning News where he was twice asked by hosts if he would send the can to Mulvaney again or if it had been a ‘mistake.’ It was a softball question. He should have belted it out of the park,” Mr. Frericks wrote. “Yet both times he deflected, with a clearly rehearsed and evasive answer.”
Anheuser-Busch InBev’s global CEO, Michel Doukeris, said in a May 4 analyst call that the declining Bud Light sales signaled a 1 percent drop in the company’s overall volume. The chief executive also stated that so-called social media-driven misinformation was the culprit behind the boycott, but he stressed that the firm will significantly invest more into Bud Light over the summer.
Generally, July and August are crucial months for Bud Light and other, similar beers as summer ushers in more beer-drinking, according to Bump Williams in previous articles. Brewers also use the summer to insert more displays and advertisement at gas stations and grocers.
The Epoch Times has approached Anheuser-Busch, Bud Light’s parent company, for comment on Thursday.