According to recent reports, Bud Light has still not fully recovered from its marketing disaster that unfolded over a year ago when it collaborated with transgender influencer Dylan Mulvaney. For decades, the Anheuser-Busch brand had been the number-one beer in America. However, based on the latest data from Bump Williams Consulting, Bud Light sits at the number three position.
Modelo Especial and Michelob Ultra currently hold the number one and two positions, respectively. Year-to-date, Modelo has dominated the beer market, accounting for 9.3% of beer dollar sales in U.S. stores. Michelob Ultra had a 7.1% share, and Bud Light fell to 7%, per data from NielsenIQ. However, Bud Light is still the number one selling beer in terms of volume.
“Bud Light is still the #1 selling beer in the United States on a volume basis (cases) and has started to recover from the Dylan Mulvaney situation that occurred on April 1st of 2023,” the consulting firm told Fox News. “While $ sales aren’t quite back into the ‘positive’ yet, the declines for the brand have improved dramatically and Retailer support continues to improve week after week.”
According to a statement from an Anheuser-Busch spokesperson, other brands underneath its corporate umbrella have been performing exceptionally well. Michelob Ultra and Busch Light have reportedly benefited from successful partnerships with various sports organizations, such as NASCAR, the PGA, and the NBA. As a result, the brands have been significantly increasing their market share.
“In the last four weeks, Michelob ULTRA and Busch Light are two of the top three share gaining brands in the industry, demonstrating that our partnerships with the NBA, PGA, NASCAR, Team USA at the Olympic Games, and others, continue to resonate and connect with millions of sports fans and beer drinkers and drive growth. We are focused on what we do best – brewing great beer for everyone and earning our place in the moments that matter,” the spokesperson said.
The American Tribune previously reported on commentary on the Bud Light controversy from former President Donald Trump and rockstar Kid Rock, who bashed the woke advertising campaign. “It’s time to beat the Radical Left at their own game. Money does talk—Anheuser-Busch now understands that. Great new Book by Wayne Allyn Root. Buy your copy today!” Trump wrote on Truth Social in May of 2023, when the boycott was in full swing.
“So [Trump and I] go over, and we actually had a great conversation [with Whitworth]. I told him, ‘You signaled to a lot of people like myself … by sending that can to the trans kid, you kind of signaled to us that you support that lifestyle, and more importantly, men being in women’s sports or in my granddaughter’s locker room. Most of us draw a hard line right there,’” Kid Rock said. He added, “I said eff you. What are you doing, injecting yourself into this conversation, these polarizing social issues? You could be doing so much more positive stuff just making us laugh and drink beer.”
Watch Kid Rock speak about the Bud Light backlash below:
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