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(Courtesy Anheuser-Busch)
To be fair, we expect that these patriotic Bud and Bud Light cans had been planned well before the Bud Light trans controversy erupted, but still this promotion couldn’t have come at a better time for the brewer.
On May 16 Anheuser-Busch home to Budweiser and Bud Light and its wholesaler partners, announced that they were are once again joining forces with Folds of Honor to release limited-edition Budweiser and Bud Light packaging that provides life-changing scholarships to the spouses and children of fallen or disabled US service members and first responders.
A wonderful cause and promotion that kicks off in full on Memorial Day.
This from the company’s press release…
“With a century-long commitment to supporting the military and honoring those who serve our country, Anheuser-Busch is proud to continue its support of Folds of Honor as the organization’s longest standing partner. Over the last 13 years, Anheuser-Busch, its brands, and wholesaler partners have donated $21.7 million which helped provide over 4,000 scholarships to the families of fallen or disabled U.S. service members.”
For over a decade, Anheuser-Busch has released annual patriotic-themed packaging to support Folds of Honor and, this year, Budweiser and Bud Light will be releasing limited-edition Folds of Honor aluminum bottles, available beginning on Memorial Day. Budweiser and Bud Light’s limited-edition aluminum bottles will feature monochromatic-camo designs in iconic Budweiser red and Bud Light blue.
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In celebration of the work Folds of Honor has achieved to date and to mark its 13-year partnership, Folds of Honor and Budweiser are releasing a co-branded film featuring the impact Folds of Honor scholarships has had on scholarship recipients and their families.
The limited-edition aluminum bottles, with an interactive QR code so consumers can learn more about the work Folds of Honor is doing, will be available wherever Budweiser and Bud Light are sold, while supplies last.
No doubt this ‘patriotic’ promotion couldn’t have come at a better time. The company has been under pressure following the backlash over its partnership with Tran’s influencer Dylan Mulvaney.
(Dylan Mulvaney/Instagram)
Bud Light’s decision to showcase the Trans Tik Tok activist on a special can spurred a Boycott Bud Light! online campaign, a video of Kid Rock shooting up a bunch of bud light beer cans that went viral, a huge surge in online interest in the Samuel Adams Beer and continuing repercussions for the #1 brewer in the US.
Sales for Bud Light plunged 23.4 percent in the last week of April, according to Nielsen data as the Mulvaney controversy escalated. And the sales declines weren’t just limited to the Bud Light brand. Budweiser took an 11.4 percent hit in sales for the week ended April 29, and other –Busch beer brands also saw declines.
“It’s not just a Bud Light issue,” Bump Williams, chief executive of Bump Williams Consulting, told the NY Post. “It’s an Anheuser-Busch portfolio problem now.”
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