Bud Light Loses #1 Beer Sale Ranking, as Backlash Against Anheuser Busch Brands Continue

Sundance reporting for Conservative Treehouse 

It was bound to happen anytime a significant brand leader loses 25% of its total market share. According to data provided to Fox News, Budweiser Light beer lost its #1 ranking in the U.S. in the month of May as the critical days of summer sales begin.

This shouldn’t come as much of a surprise given the negative brand image now created for the product. Factually, the only thing that can reverse the trend for the product is time and diminished memory. As consumers associate the brand with a lifestyle, the use of the product will continue to drop. Holding a Bud Light beverage right now is akin to identifying yourself as a transfemme, or wearing pink pants.

(Fox News) – Bud Light lost its top spot in the U.S. beer market last month, as the brand’s sales sagged following a conservative uproar over its partnership with transgender social media influencer Dylan Mulvaney.

Constellation Brands’ Modelo led the market as it nabbed 8.4% of beer sales from retail stores in the four weeks that ended June 3, according to NielsenIQ data from consulting firm Bump Williams. Bud Light trailed with a 7.3% share.

Bud Light sales fell 24.6% in the period year over year, while Modelo sales jumped 10.2%, the data shows.

Still, the Anheuser-Busch InBev brand Bud Light leads U.S. beer sales so far this year, according to Bump Williams.

The hit to AB InBev’s business marks one of the few times in recent years that online backlash has led to a notable and sustained slump for a major brand. The company’s shares have dropped nearly 15% since the start of April, when Mulvaney posted a video of a personalized Bud Light can, which sparked anti-LGBTQ+ outrage.

In response to the uproar, the company appeared to neither defend the promotion with Mulvaney — a hesitance that angered some supporters of trans rights — nor appease the conservatives who opposed the marketing.

“We never intended to be part of a discussion that divides people. We are in the business of bringing people together over a beer,” Anheuser-Busch CEO Brendan Whitworth said in a statement in April. (read more)

That last statement is particularly laughable from Anheuser-Busch, as if they were victims of something external that was forced upon them.

Anheuser-Busch made a marketing decision with multiple layers of corporate approval. Apparently, no one was in the room to say it might not be a good idea to position their #1 product with a gender fluid promotional effort. Alas, they went full-throated into the foray and are now paying the price.