The boycott against Bud Light in the wake of its partnership with trans activist Dylan Mulvaney is continuing to take a toll on the brand, with sales declining for the fifth straight week.
For the week that ended May 6, retail sales of Bud Light dropped 23.6 percent compared to a year ago, slightly down from the 23.3 percent decline seen the week prior, Bump Williams Consulting and NielsenIQ data show.
“This seems to be where the brand’s weekly declines have started to settle, falling in that -20% range over the past few weeks,” said Bump Williams, president and CEO of the consulting firm, referring to Bud Light. “I wonder if this going to be the ‘floor.’”
Williams speculated on what might help Bud Light draw back some of its customers.
“I think the Bud Light drinker is waiting for a genuine and sincere apology from [Anheuser-Busch] and a crystal clear communication on exactly what happened and how important the Bud Light drinkers are to the [company],” Williams said, according to the New York Post.
With the summer months just around the corner, Williams said the company needs to come up with a fix—and fast.
Among Anheuser-Busch’s efforts to revamp Bud Light’s image, the company appears to be taking a page from Yuengling’s playbook.
Last week, the company held a meeting at its US headquarters in St. Louis with distributors to discuss its strategy for dealing with the backlash, The Post learned. Among the new initiatives planned is a temporary redesign of its Budweiser and Bud Light aluminum bottles, according to a distributor who did not want to be identified.
Anheuser-Busch will produce bottles with a camouflage print and images of the ‘Folds of Honor’ program, which provides educational scholarships for children and spouses of fallen or disabled American military service members and first responders, according to the executive.
The redesign is part of Anheuser-Busch’s efforts to invest heavily in the brand this spring and summer, as the Post reported. The company kicked off the blitz during the NFL draft at the end of April.
At some New York grocery stores this weekend, the company offered customers a free T-shirt with the logo ‘Ultra Mom’ for anyone who bought Michelob Ultra products.
Other likely marketing strategies, experts speculate, include discounting the beer at retail stores and investing heavily in sports marketing, and incorporating the US military and country and western music, farmers, law enforcement, and first responders into their advertising. (New York Post)
Bud Light also began offering rebates on cases, meaning they were essentially giving them away for free.
20 bucks for a case of beer that gives you 20 bucks back?
— Tim Pool (@Timcast) May 15, 2023
Bud light is GIVING AWAY Their beer probably in a desperate bid to make sales look like they are returning https://t.co/QXmRpQnL0Q
The latest sales numbers come after financial firm HSBC downgraded Anheuser-Busch InBev stock to a “hold" amid the company's Bud Light "crisis."