The Bud Light boycott has just entered its fourth month, and things are not looking good for the beer company. After months of controversy from the Dylan Mulvaney marketing disaster, beer industry experts predict that future Bud Light sales may not recover. This is bad news for shareholders who have already lost billions in market value in Anheuser-Busch stock since the boycott began.
Harry Schumacher is the publisher of Beer Business Daily, a professional trade publication for the beer industry. He has claimed the perpetual declining sales for Anheuser-Busch products are so normalized at this point that it is “business as usual” for the beer company. “The trends have remained almost the same since about mid-May… now it’s almost like business as usual,” Schumacher said.
Schumacher further pointed out that sales are actually getting “a little bit worse” when looking at recent data, Bud Light sales volume was down 31 percent going into Father’s Day Weekend. Simultaneously, competitors of Bud Light, such as Miller Lite and Coors Lite, saw increased metrics as consumers turned to their products amid the boycott.
The beer industry expert noted that while Bud Light is struggling to get its inventory off the shelves, these competitors are struggling to keep up their supply of inventory amid the heightened consumer demand. “It’s surprised a lot of people, even their competitors, who are really struggling to keep up to supply the beer,” Schumacher said. “It’s not like flipping a switch.”
Anheuser-Busch CEO Brendan Whitworth recently appeared on “CBS Mornings,” where the executive was questioned on the controversy surrounding his company. Whitworth faced direct questions about the boycott and the company’s stance on the now-infamous Dylan Mulvaney marketing disaster. However, the CEO danced around the question, failing to give a substantive answer.
Schumacher called this out, stating, “I think he skirted around a lot of the tough questions. The main one being, ‘Would you do this Mulvaney promotion again?’ And he wouldn’t answer yes or no. He kind of danced around it.”
The Beer Business Daily publisher pointed out that there is a clear business decision behind taking a firm stance that the Mulvaney ad was a mistake and should not be repeated. “I see that’s the issue there. But I mean, they’re down 30%. I think the answer is ‘no, you wouldn’t do it again,’” he said. “Without… throwing any shade to the trans community, I think just from a business perspective, you know, it wasn’t a great idea, clearly.”
Sales of Bud Light have progressively worsened since the outset of the Dylan Mulvaney disaster that began in early April. As the boycott against the woke beer has continued for over an entire financial quarter, sales continue to decline at an aggressive rate painting a dismal outlook for Bud Light and Anheuser-Busch.
The American Tribune reported that Bud Light saw its worst week of sales yet last month, where Bud Light sales dropped almost 29 percent for the week ending June 17th. Some have predicted this could be permanent for Bud Light and that the beer may never recover from the damage done by this boycott.
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