Distributors: Bud Light Will Not Recover

CV NEWS FEED // Bud Light is beginning to lose hope that their sales will recover in the wake of the advertising nightmare that came with the company partnering with “transgender influencer” Dylan Mulvaney.

Many distributors of Anheuser-Busch admit they have stopped trying to win back customers who boycotted the brand after Mulvaney’s controversial post on April 1. Sales have dropped more than 25% since then, and the company has implemented hiring freezes and layoffs to make up for the loss. 

“Consumers have made a choice,” an executive at a Texas-based beer distributor told The New York Post. “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.”

Many previous Bud Light drinkers have moved to beers such as Coors Light and Miller Lite. 

Bud Light has received the heaviest blow to their sales, but other beers produced by Anheuser-Busch – such as Budweiser, Michelob Ultra, and Busch Light – have also seen sales decline.

While Bud Light still holds the title of the highest-selling beer in the U.S., Modelo is projected to outrank it by the end of August – the end of a decadeslong winning streak for Bud.

In general, beer sales have been declining, while hard liquor sales have increased. Bud Light’s initial idea was to market to a younger audience in an effort to overcome that trend.

“The strategy of targeting younger, newer consumers is the right one, but Anheuser-Busch made a mistake executing on the strategy,” Michael Stone, chairman of a New York-based branding firm called Beanstalk Group, told The Post.

“Hard liquor accounted for 42.1% market share in 2022 compared to beer’s 41.9% market share, according to the Distilled Spirits Council of the United States,” The Post reported. This is the first time beer has been surpassed as the number-one drink in the United States. 

Many breweries are attempting to adapt to the change, partnering with companies that sell ready-made cocktails.