American Craft Beer The Best Craft Beer, Breweries, Bars, Brewpubs, Beer Stores, And Restaurants Serving Serious Beer.
(Courtesy Molson Coors)
Molson Coors, the nation’s #2 brewer, is benefitting at retail from Bud Light’s short-lived partnership with trans influencer, Dylan Mulvaney with increased exposure on retail shelves.
Here’s the deal…
These are polarizing times and Bud Light remains in a tailspin following its brief, but ultimately costly, partnership with Dylan Mulvaney, a transgender influencer whose image was put on a Bud Light beer can to celebrate the activist’s “365 Days of Girlhood.”
The initial Dylan Mulvaney announcement took place on April 1 of 2022 and in spite of Anheuser-Busch’s considerable efforts to put the matter to bed the brand has been experiencing serious sales declines ever since then.
And as Bud light’s sales continue to struggle, Molson Coors, the nation’s #2 brewery, is enjoying greater shelf placement at retail.
This massive expansion began in the back half of 2023 when Molson Coors saw a 6% to 7% increase in shelf space for Coors Light and Miller Lite among a group of 50 leading retailers, an unprecedented level of summer and fall reset activity driven by shifting consumer preferences.
As president of US sales Brian Feiro told Beer & Beyond, that retail growth is happening “not only in large-format stores, but in small-format retail, as well, where Molson Coors traditionally is underrepresented.”
And there’s absolutely no doubt that the trouble which Anheuser-Busch continues to be experiencing is a factor in that “unprecedented” growth.
On February 21, Molson Coors CEO Gavin Hattersley told attendees of the Consumer Analyst Group of New York conference, that “Molson Coors expects its three core brands – Coors Light, Miller Lite and Coors Banquet – to grow retail space by more than 10% in the largest US grocery and convenience retailers this spring.”
“We are the beer category captain for 50% of the retail volume in the country,” Hattersley added
We’ve described The Fall of Bud Light as the biggest beer story of 2023. It’s been compared to the now legendary New Coke business miscalculation of 1985. The difference being that Coke was able to course-correct within three months while Anheuser-Busch continues to feel reverberations of their decision to partner with Trans influencer Dylan Mulvaney that show little sighns of going away.
