(RightWing.org) – Controversy erupted nationwide after transgender actress and social media influencer Dylan Mulvaney shared a video promoting her recent partnership with Bud Light on her Instagram account on April 1. Celebrities and political figures alike spoke out against the company’s alliance with Mulvaney and called for a boycott. A new report indicates parent company Anheuser-Busch is helpless to turn the tide of public opinion back in its brand’s favor.
On April 24, beer industry news site Brewbound reported that off-premise sales of Bud Light dropped 17% in dollars and 21.1% in volume for the week ending on April 15. That figure showed a noticeable jump over the brand’s 6.9% decline the previous week.
2 Anheuser-Busch Marketing Execs Placed on Leave; Bud Light Package Sales and Share Losses Accelerate in Boycott’s Second Week https://t.co/hVB7HrUtq3
— Rod J BeerVentures (@RodJBeerVenture) April 25, 2023
At the same time, rival companies Coors Light and Miller Lite saw dollar sales increase by 17.6%. Likewise, Coors Light’s volume sales increased by 10.6%, and Miller Lite enjoyed an 11.5% boost.
For its part, Anheuser-Busch placed its vice president of marketing for its mainstream brands, Daniel Blake, and Bud Light’s marketing vice president Alissa Heinersheid on a leave of absence. Additionally, the company’s CEO posted a statement claiming Anheuser-Busch “never intended” to step into a topic that divided people. Instead, the company’s goal was to bring people together “over a beer.”
— Anheuser-Busch (@AnheuserBusch) April 14, 2023
The long-term success of the boycott remains unclear and depends largely on its intended goals. If the aim was to cause financial harm to Bud Light’s bottom line, the action appears to have succeeded since the company seems unable to stop the exodus of beer drinkers.
However, it remains unclear whether Bud Light will ultimately stop marketing its products to members of the LGBT community. A new Morning Consult poll found 53% of beer drinkers had a “favorable” view of brands that work with a transgender spokesperson compared to 28% who said they didn’t look favorably on the idea.
Additionally, as The Wall Street Journal recently reported, Bud Light has a long history of supporting LGBT causes. Yet, some experts say it would be in the company’s best interest to avoid controversy regarding social issues in the future.
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