We’ve been laying out the huge implosion of Bud Light since they endorsed transgender influencer Dylan Mulvaney, and it just seems like things keep getting worse for them.
I reported how Costco allegedly had put the “Death Star” on some of the Bud Light products in some of their stores, which means they’re not going to be stocking it in the future.
Then distributors delivered a body blow to the company . They have just given up on the brand because they don’t think the consumers are going to come back.
On top of all that, for the second quarter, they lost $390 million, had a nearly 30 percent loss in sales, as well as losing almost $40 billion in market cap. They’re laying off an estimated 360 workers in the corporate offices in the U.S. because of all the problems. So it’s hitting the executives right where they live.
Now, Bud Light is facing another serious blow.
Stores are reportedly clearing their shelves to make room for other brands, and Bud Light sales might “never fully regain the ground they’ve lost to competitors.”
The Wall Street Journal noted that as Bud Light sales continue “cratering,” the “biggest beneficiary of Bud Light’s woes” is rival company Molson Coors Beverage.
“There are reasons to believe that Bud Light sales might be permanently impaired. Molson Coors Chief Executive Gavin Hattersley said on a conference call with analysts that retailers are already reallocating space to other brands during shelf resets that take place in the spring, with more resets to come in the fall,” The Journal reported. “In bars and other on-premise channels, the company gained more than 12,000 tap handles in the quarter, he added.”
The Journal went on to note that “Molson Coors also said it is planning an additional $100 million of marketing spending in the second half of the year to keep that sales momentum. ‘Our job is to maintain those gains that we’ve got,’ Hattersley said.”
If that’s the case, just like with Costco, that’s a huge blow. This kind of a move will help ensure that they can’t come back and hasten brand death.
The problem is also that the boycott has enabled people to find and try other beers. It’s an easy boycott, with so many other options, and no reason to stick by Bud Light. Coors has shown they’re not going to be shy about picking up on all this, and they’ve put out an ad reflecting their understanding. They’re getting a lot of growth as a result of all of Bud Light’s mistakes. Modelo Especial has also profited, taking over the number one sales slot for the past two months, and it’s expected to capture the market share and surpass Bud Light on that sometime in August.
Yet they’re still acting like they don’t get it. Even with the huge losses, when they released their earnings report on Thursday, they said that their survey showed that Americans still had a favorable view of the brand. I don’t know how they conducted their survey. But all they have to do is open their eyes to see what has happened to the brand since April to know that isn’t true. But that cluelessness has left them here, on the brink of brand death.