Bud Light is no longer America’s favorite beer
Image: Nielsen/Bump Williams Consulting/WSJ
Bud Light, the top US beer seller since 2001, lost its sales crown last month amidst a conservative-led boycott that also grew to include some progressive Americans, according to a new WSJ report citing data from consulting firm Bump Williams.
🍺 Some quick background: Bud Light’s sales first started to decline in April, when transgender influencer Dylan Mulvaney posted an image of a personalized Bud Light can that the brand had sent her as a gift.
- Mulvaney’s Instagram post initially sparked backlash against Anheuser-Busch from some conservatives – and the brewer’s response to the conservative-led boycott wound up angering some progressive Americans, too.
đź’Ą The impact: Mexican brand Modelo Especial made up 8.4% of all beer sales from US retail stores in May, compared to a 7.3% market share for Bud Light (down from 10% in late March).
On a year-to-year basis, sales of Bud Light fell 24.6% in May, with other Anheuser-Busch brands like Budweiser and Michelob Ultra also taking a hit, per the WSJ.
- Since Mulvaney first posted her Bud Light can in early April, shares of Anheuser-Busch have declined by about 15%, compared to a 7% increase in the S&P 500 over the same period.
📸 Big picture: Bud Light sales through the first five months of 2023 were still higher than any other beer. But many industry experts now believe Modelo has permanently dethroned Bud Light as America’s favorite beer, after the recent boycott accelerated a long-term trend pointing to a switch in popularity, per the Journal.
đź“Š Flash poll: Have you personally chosen to avoid Bud Light products due to the recent controversy?
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Sprinkles from the Left
- Some commentators argue that Bud Light ended up alienating every possible political group by caving to the initial conservative backlash surrounding Dylan Mulvaney, unlike other brands who have been able to carefully toe the line of reach some audiences without offending others.
- Others contend that the national controversy surrounding Bud Light and Dylan Mulvaney was very clearly artificially manufactured by right-wing politicians, since normal right-leaning Americans wouldn’t have had any idea about Mulvaney’s post if it wasn’t amplified by conservative pundits.
- “Bud Light wanted to market to all. Instead, it’s alienating everyone” –Danielle Wiener-Bronner, CNN
- “The Bud Light brew-haha” –St. Louis Post-Dispatch Editorial Board
- “The Bud Light controversy reminds us how toxic masculinity can be” –Brian Broome, WaPo
Sprinkles from the Right
- Some commentators argue that Bud Light’s reputational decline is good for America, since it shows how “woke” marketing can cost an iconic American brand dearly in terms of its image, its sales, and its market capitalization.
- Others contend that despite claims to the alternative, the only value driving Bud Light (or any other product available on a global scale) is the logic of shareholder value – thus, anyone upset over Bud Light’s perceived departure from “conservative roots” is sorely mistaken.
- “The Bud Light Meltdown Is Good for America” –Rich Lowry, National Review
- “Consider This the Next Time Your Beer Betrays You” –Matthew Walther, NY Times
- “Have a Cold Bud Light, Not a Woke One” –Anson Frericks, WSJ
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