Most boycott efforts may give companies a PR headache for a bit, but ultimately don’t impact the bottom line all too much. Nike is still around, Goya actually saw an increase in sales following the liberal backlash over the CEO’s praise for former President Trump, and despite taking a hit after the conservative backlash to its pride merchandise in 2023, Target’s share price increased by the year’s end. Bud Light has been different, however. While the brand hasn’t gone completely under, the boycott over the beer’s partnership with transgender influencer Dylan Mulvaney was one of the most successful in recent memory, as new data shows its impact.
According to a CNN report, parent company Anheuser-Busch InBev may have lost up to $1.4 billion from the boycott.
Anheuser-Busch InBev (BUD) reported record revenues for 2023 Thursday but said its “full growth potential was constrained” by its US business, where sales were hurt by a boycott of Bud Light over a sponsored Instagram post with Dylan Mulvaney.
In North America, organic revenue, seen as the best measure of operating performance, plunged $1.4 billion last year as beer sales by volume tumbled in the region, primarily due to a decline in Bud Light sales in the United States. Beer makes up the lion’s share of AB InBev’s revenue. […]
From May through February, Bud Light recovered only 1.2 percentage points of lost market share, CEO Michel Doukeris told investors Thursday. The pace of the recovery is picking up, he said, but it’s still only 0.1 to 0.2 percentage points every three to four weeks.
“It’s not at the fast pace that we were expecting or that we’ve been working for. But nevertheless, progress is in place,” he added.
Some analysts were not impressed with the recovery disclosed by the company so far.
“In the US, performance remains very underwhelming with revenue down at double-digit rates as the group lost market share,” Aarin Chiekrie, an equity analyst at online investing platform Hargreaves Lansdown, said Thursday. (CNN)
Its best efforts during the Super Bowl were a flop, too.
Bud Light spent as much as it could on ads for the Super Bowl. The result? The brand still tanked, down 30% compared to last year’s game. They have to publicly apologize to their drinkers for supporting “chicks” with dicks. pic.twitter.com/ZSm4K4mgry
— Clay Travis (@ClayTravis) February 28, 2024
Conservatives saw the latest update as a win.
Conservatives have a powerful voice when they’re willing and organized.
— Marina Medvin 🇺🇸 (@MarinaMedvin) March 1, 2024
The Bud Light boycott resulted in over $1 BILLION in lost sales. pic.twitter.com/e0KX7l9FGm
