American Craft Beer The Best Craft Beer, Breweries, Bars, Brewpubs, Beer Stores, And Restaurants Serving Serious Beer.
(Dylan Mulvaney/Instagram)
These are polarizing times and Bud Light is continuing to face a backlash following its partnership with Dylan Mulvaney, a transgender influencer whose image was put on a Bud Light beer can to celebrate “365 Days of Girlhood.”
The initial Dylan Mulvaney announcement took place on April 1 (ironically April Fool’s Day) and in spite of Anheuser-Busch’s desperate efforts to put the matter to bed the brand has been experiencing serious sales declines ever since then.
By the end of May Bud Light was dethroned as the nation’s #1 beer by Modelo Especial, a Mexican beer brand that’s part of the Anheuser-Busch family everywhere in the world except in the US, where it brewed south of the border by Constellation Brands who sell it in the US.
And now six month later Bud Light sales are still down 30% according to the New York Post, with one notable beer expert speculating that its once unwavering fans may be gone forever.
“Bud Light still just stubbornly down around 30% in volume compared to last year, which is where it’s been since May or June,” Beer Business Daily publisher Harry Schuhmacher told Fox News Digital Friday.
“That tells me that this is quasi-permanent, meaning those consumers are just lost forever.”
“At least until April and May of 2024 when they lap the controversy,” Schuhmacher told Fox News Digital. “I think the industry thought it would have rebounded by now, but it hasn’t.”
“It’s actually worse than just lost sales because now it’s getting to the point where it’s becoming systemic within the industry, and they’re losing the confidence of the retailers, and that’s when it starts getting bad.”
“At least until April and May of 2024 when they lap the controversy,” Schuhmacher told Fox News Digital.
“I think the industry thought it would have rebounded by now, but it hasn’t,” he continued.
“It’s actually worse than just lost sales because now it’s getting to the point where it’s becoming systemic within the industry, and they’re losing the confidence of the retailers, and that’s when it starts getting bad.”
In July we reported that Anheuser-Busch InBev had already lost $27 billion in market value in the wake of its partnership with Dylan Mulvaney and it doesn’t seem like things are getting much better for the multinational brewer.
We’ve never seen anything like this in the beer industry,” Schuhmacher added.
###
Want more on the Bud Light Trans controversy?
BUD LIGHT BEER PRONOUNCED “SICK” GOING INTO MEMORIAL DAY HOLIDAY
ANHEUSER-BUSCH LOSES PERFECT LGBTQ+ RATING FROM HUMAN RIGHTS GROUP
ANHEUSER-BUSCH STOCK DOWNGRADED AS BUD LIGHT TRANS CRISIS CONTINUES
