As we reported, Bud Light has now tumbled out of the “number one beer in America” spot after a boycott for the past couple of months in the wake of the company’s endorsement of trans influencer Dylan Mulvaney’s “365 Days of Being a Girl.”
Their sales have continued to drop, and Memorial Day didn’t save them. The sales are down 34.4 percent for the week ending June 3, over the same time last year. They’ve held the spot for two decades, but now Modelo Especial has passed them on a dollar basis for the four-week and single-week period ending June 3. Meanwhile, Bud Light’s other competitors have also gained speed. Sales of Coors Light increased by 25.8 percent, and Miller Lite rose by 21.4 percent over the same period.
What was worse was what the distributors had to say.
A survey by investment firm Jefferies Group found that 65% of beer distributors expect the Bud Light boycott to continue for six more months and another 32% think it could be permanent, according to Brewbound, a beer industry publication. [….]
A separate distributor survey by Goldman Sachs showed most respondents do not believe Bud Light will make a “full recovery” in its “brand equity and market share,” Brewbound reported. Goldman’s survey was taken with 57 distributors who serve 200,000 retail outlets.
This has finally forced Anheuser-Busch CEO Brendan Whitworth to speak to the customers.
He had previously issued a statement on April 14, saying, “We never intended to be part of a discussion that divides people. We are in the business of bringing people together over a beer.” But he didn’t directly address the customers. It was a placeholder statement that didn’t make anyone happy.
Then, others in the company tried to backpedal in May, saying this was one can to an influencer, not a “campaign,” and they tried to blame an outside ad agency. But in the meantime, they put their VP of marketing on leave and seemed to forget about the statement that they issued when this whole thing started.
Anheuser-Busch works with hundreds of influencers across our brands as one of many ways to authentically connect with audiences across various demographics. From time to time we produce unique commemorative cans for fans and for brand influencers, like Dylan Mulvaney. This commemorative can was a gift to celebrate a personal milestone and is not for sale to the general public.
Now, Whitworth is directly addressing the customers in a new statement.
In a post titled “Anheuser-Busch Announces Support For Frontline Employees And Wholesaler Partners,” Whitworth said, “We recognize that over the last two months, the discussion surrounding our company and Bud Light has moved away from beer, and this has impacted our consumers, our business partners, and our employees.”
“We are a beer company, and beer is for everyone,” he continued.
Whitworth announced “three important actions” to move the company forward, including “investing to protect the jobs of our frontline employees” and “providing financial assistance to our independent wholesalers to help them support their employees.”
“Third, to all our valued consumers, we hear you. Our summer advertising launches next week, and you can look forward to Bud Light reinforcing what you’ve always loved about our brand – that it’s easy to drink and easy to enjoy,” Whitworth also said.
He vowed that “As we move forward, we will focus on what we do best — brewing great beer and earning our place in moments that matter to you.”
So after two months, he’s finally addressed the customers — only after an incredibly severe hit in the sales, losing their top spot, and their stock plunging. You know that they must think they’re in deep trouble if he has to speak to it. But at this point, after so long, especially without any clear apology, I doubt if it will do much to blunt how people feel about Bud Light. Now it’s become engrained, and people even joke about avoiding it at bars, as I witnessed on Thursday. As the distributors noted above, they’ve dug a big hole. Is the statement going to help them get out of it? I wouldn’t bet on it.