Nearly half a year ago, Bud Light embarked on perhaps the most disastrous advertising promotion in modern marketing. When it partnered with transgender social media influencer Dylan Mulvaney, the initiative entirely backfired, leading to a boycott that has rattled the beer maker to its core.
Publisher of Beer Business Daily, Harry Schuhmacher, recently spoke with Fox News Digital, where he outlined the continual predicament Bud Light faces. Schuhmacher cited a study from Bump Williams Consulting that found sales are down 26.9 percent in dollars and over 30 percent in volume.
“You see Bud Light still just stubbornly down around 30% in volume compared to last year, which is where it’s been since May or June,” the industry expert stated, explaining how sales are neglecting to improve month-over-month for Bud Light. Since there has been no improvement in nearly six months, Schuhmacher concludes that some consumers will never return to the beer. “That tells me that this is quasi-permanent, meaning those consumers are just lost forever,” he added.
Reports recently claimed that Bud Light had clawed back a measly 15 percent of drinkers who were boycotting the company’s beverages. However, the fact that 85 percent are still holding out half a year later speaks to the damage done to the brand. Therefore, Schuhmacher believes declining sales will persist for the “foreseeable future.” “At least until April and May of 2024 when they lap the controversy,” Schuhmacher said.
“I think the industry thought it would have rebounded by now, but it hasn’t,” he mentioned. “It’s actually worse than just lost sales because now it’s getting to the point where it’s becoming systemic within the industry, and they’re losing the confidence of the retailers, and that’s when it starts getting bad.”
Reports have circulated over the past few months of retailers actually pulling Bud Light products off of their shelves in order to get rid of toxic inventory that consumers have no appetite for. The American Tribune reported that Molson Coors CEO Gavin Hattersley stated on a conference call that retailers were replacing Bud Light with other brands. Bud Light’s competitors have seen healthy increases in their sales amid the woke beer’s decline.
Schumacher continues, claiming Bud Light has little power to fix the issue at hand. The damage has been done at this point, and many drinkers may have put down the beer for good, solidifying their taste with other brands over the past few months.
“They’re somewhat powerless to fix it, except to remain really active in their local communities, which they’ve done and which they’ve always done. And really, that’s kind of the only saving grace for that brand is those local connections that the wholesalers have,” he said. “We’ve never seen anything like this in the beer industry.”
Recent reports indicate that Bud Light officially lost its spot as the number one beer by market share. According to market share data, Modelo Especial took the number one spot, earning 8.34 percent of all dollars spent on beer through August 12. Bud Light fell behind, claiming only 8.28 percent of beer spending.
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