BBC: Bud Light boycott over trans influencer Dylan Mulvaney hits beer giant’s sales
Even with the BBC slanting this article, it looks bad for AB Inbev
Brewing giant AB Inbev said sales in the US fell more than 10% this spring, as demand for Bud Light lager plunged.
If this means that all sales for AB Inbev are down 10%, then that’s huge. Bud Light is just one Budweiser brand, and AB Inbev includes several other beer brands.
The brand faced a wave of attacks after it sent a personalised can of beer to Ms Mulvaney for an online post.
“Wave of attacks” is vague and ominous. Wouldn’t “significant online criticism” be more factual. It’s not like anyone threatened bottling plants or smashed cases of beer at the corner store.
Outside of the US, Budweiser sales jumped nearly 17% compared with last year.
Budweiser is not great beer, so who is drinking it outside the US? Budweiser tried discounts and rebates to where it was practically free, and even Costco couldn’t move it, so stopped trying. My guess is that Budweiser tried the deep discounts internationally just to get a jump in sales for articles like this one.
It is showing few signs of recovery since April, when the Bud Light controversy reached its peak.
Following Ms Mulvaney’s social media post promoting the beer with her personalised can, many on the right criticised the company for going “woke”.
There is no reason for Bud Light to recover. Plenty of other weak beers are available, so there is no incentive for anyone to switch back to a beer that holds them in such low regard. Mulvaney’s doesn’t act like a woman. His whole schtick is mocking women. Why would anyone support that?
Woke is an informal term from the US, meaning alert to injustice and discrimination in society, particularly racism and sexism. It is often used by the right in a derogatory way towards left-leaning views on topics from climate change to support for minorities.
That is laughably wrong. Men beating women at their own game is not justice. Forcing people to play along with the delusions of mentally ill people is not fighting discrimination.
Within weeks, industry analysts reported that Modelo – sold in the US by a rival firm – had replaced Bud Light as the top-selling beer in the US, and rivals such as Coors Light and Miller Light were gaining fast.
That has to really piss off Budweiser executives. Being number one brings bragging rights and prestige. That was lost in such a gratuitously stupid way.
Ab Inbev said its own internal data showed about 80% of consumers in the US remain favourable or neutral toward the Bud Light brand.
And the other 20% buy entry-level beer like Bud Light or Coors.
But its recovery efforts – including an advertising blitz and support for stores and distributors – weighed heavily on the firm’s core profits in the US, which dropped more than 28% in the quarter.
There is no recovery. I don’t drink Bud Light, but love to read these articles about how much they were hurt. At best, I think they could try bribing the shit out of any athletes or country music singers to be seen drinking Bud Light.