
(Photo by James Kern / Unsplash)
Bud Light is continuing to face a backlash that refuses to die 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 new data from YouGov shows that as Bud Light and Budweiser continue to struggle with the fallout of the Dylan Mulvaney controversy, competitors within the beer industry capitalized on it, particularly Modelo and Coors Light.
Modelo saw the largest gains in “Consideration” (which is a measure of the share of consumers who would consider purchasing from a brand the next time they are shopping for beer). Modelo beer jumped up seven places from 13th in Q1 to 6th in Q2, marking the biggest move among all beer brands.
“Samuel Adams and Coors Light were two other brands to make significant moves at the same time as the Bud Light controversy,” according to YouGov’s most recent analysis. “Samuel Adams secured the runner-up behind Corona in Q2 beer rankings, moving up two places to displace Heineken.”

(Dylan Mulvaney/Instagram)
Key Findings from the YouGov Q2 Report
- Modelo’s Major Move: Climbed seven places to 6th spot with a Consideration score jump from 10.1% to 13.1%.
- Samuel Adams’ Ascent: Jumped two places, positioning just behind Corona, outperforming Heineken.
- Coors Light Climbs: Rose from 10th to 8th with a 1.4-point increase in Consideration.
- Yuengling’s Upward Shift: Advanced three spots, pushing Bud Light and Budweiser out of the top 10.
- Bud Light and Budweiser’s Decline: Bud Light’s Consideration dropped 2.2 points, moving from 8th to 11th. Budweiser experienced a steeper fall, plunging from 7th to 15th with a 3.2-point drop in Consideration. This is the largest decline of any beer in Q2.
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 as we approach September it doesn’t seem like things are getting much better for the multinational brewer.
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Want more on the Bud Light Trans controversy?
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