The boycott of Anheuser-Busch’s association with transgender social media star Dylan Mulvaney has reduced Bud Light sales again.
A little improvement from last week’s 25.7 percent dip, beer sales fell 23.9 percent for the week ending May 27 compared to previous year.
Bud Light lost approximately 28% year-over-year volume for the week ended May 27. Bud Light’s lesser sales loss may indicate a ‘bottom has been hit’ and a ‘turn-around in performance,’ according to Bumps Williams Consulting’s monthly industry analysis.
According to Newsweek, Budweiser, Anheuser-Busch’s other trademark beer, dropped 8.5 percent, while Natural Light and Stella Artois dropped 1.5 to 3 percent.
As beer drinkers switched brands, the company’s main competitors saw sales rise.
Miller Lite rose 23.1 percent and Coors Light 26.3 percent. Modelo Especial improved the least at 9.5 percent, while Yuengling increased 36.3%.
Bud Light and Modelo are owned by Anheuser-Busch parent AB InBev.
Mulvaney, 26, featured on a beer can to mark her 365th day of girlhood, a TikTok series that popularized her. Sales dropped in early April.
Mulvaney shared an Instagram video of herself opening a Bud Light on April 1.
She proudly displayed the personalized can with her face, one of many corporate gifts she promotes to her millions of followers.
Conservatives like Kid Rock boycotted Bud Light for collaborating with Mulvaney, accusing them of losing their regular customers.
North America CEO Brendan Whitworth said on April 14: ‘We never wanted to be part of a conversation that divides people. We bring people together over beer.
Whitworth also pledged to keep ‘building and conserving our wonderful history and heritage.’
Last week, JPMorgan analysts predicted a 26% loss in AB InBev’s US earnings before interest and tax this year due to a 12% volume drop and a 10% sales drop.
‘We believe there is a segment of American consumers who will not drink a Bud Light for the foreseeable future,’ the note read.
Bud Light’s parent business announced earlier this month that it will treble its US marketing spending this summer to boost sales.
