Bud Light sales have continued to plummet with no sign of slowing down even five months after the Dylan Mulvaney disaster. Simultaneously, competing brands continue to increase their market share amid Bud Light’s decline.
According to the latest sales data, Bud Light’s sales have experienced yet another double-digit decline. Reports indicate that Anheuser-Busch’s brands have seen a decrease in sales of 25.9% for the week ending July 29, per analysis by NielsenIQ and Bump Williams Consulting.
Bud Light’s perpetually declining sales have created a prime opportunity for other beers who refrained from alienating a substantial portion of their consumer base by putting a transgender activist’s face on their can for a promotional stunt. Subsequently, other brands have seen notable increases in their sales figures.
Notably, Modelo Especial has improved its position in the beer industry. The Mexican beer’s sales increases have industry experts forecasting Modelo to overtake Bud Light and become the number-one-selling beer in the country for the entire year. Modelo Especial has already outsold Bud Light since May, but with the continued impact of the Dylan Mulvaney fallout, the beer is poised to take the number-one spot on an annual basis.
Furthermore, Modelo has been increasingly encroaching on Bud Light’s market share. The most recent figures from NielsenIQ show Bud Light controlling 8.4 percent of the market, while Modelo Especial has increased to 8.2 percent. Per an earlier American Tribune report, Bud Light previously had 8.7 percent market share, while Modelo Especial sat at 8.1 percent. Modelo continues to nip at the heels of Bud Light, where experts think it could lose its title sooner than expected.
CEO of Bump Williams Consulting Bump Williams told the New York Post, “It’s going to happen a LOT sooner than anyone had ever thought. We have it surpassing Bud Light mid-August.” Williams went on to say Modelo Especial is “the closest any brand has come to surpassing Bud Light as the King of Beers.”
Williams maintained for a while that the trends over the past five months suggest Bud Light will lose its “King of Beers” title. Williams said earlier this year, “If Bud Light continues its double-digit declines for the balance of 2023 and Modelo Especial continues to grow at 10% or greater for the balance of the calendar year, then it’s probable that Modelo Especial surpasses Bud Light as the No. 1 selling beer in America on a calendar basis.”
Bud Light has indeed maintained double-digit declines even through the peak demand of summer season and holidays, where heightened beer consumption is a staple. The fact that the beer can’t manage to recover ground has some speculating that the boycott against Bud Light could be permanent.
The American Tribune recently reported how a Texas-based distributor of Bud Light has thrown in the towel, conceding that some customers will never return to the woke beer. “Consumers have made a choice,” said an anonymous executive at the beer distributor. “They have left [Bud Light] and that’s how it’s going to be. I don’t envision a big percentage of them coming back.”
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