Bud Light’s Parent Company Reports Decrease in U.S. Sales Following Controversy

Bud Light’s parent company, Anheuser-Busch, is reporting a decline in U.S. sales. 

On Thursday, the beer brand held an earnings call in which executives publicly announced the 10.5% decrease in sales in America, though they noted a 7.2% increase in revenue worldwide. The company credits the U.S. plunge to a “volume decline of Bud Light.”

In April, actor and social media influencer Dylan Mulvaney, who is transgender, posted a short clip from her partnership with Bud Light to Twitter. The post sparked negative commentary among conservative social media personalities, politicians and celebrities, many of whom used transphobic rhetoric to attack Bud Light for turning to “woke” advertising. 

Not only did those using harmful rhetoric call for a “boycott” of the brand’s products, but members and advocates of the LGBTQ community also shamed Anheuser-Busch for not reaching out to Mulvaney amid harmful transphobic threats. 

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In the company’s report, CEO Michel Doukeris does not name Mulvaney. Instead, he said the dropoff relates to “performance impacted by the decline of the Bud Light brand.” As a result, he said they “have actively engaged with 170,000 consumers since April” in a survey. 

G Fiume/Getty

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“The consumer will always be at the center of everything we do. All of us at AB deeply care about and respect all our consumers,” he continued. 

Doukeris then explained points of customers’ feedback, including that they “want to enjoy their beer without the debate.”

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Other consumer points included that they’d like “Bud Light to focus on beer” and “concentrate on platforms that all consumers love such as NFL and music.” 

The discussion on the Bud Light controversy ended with the CEO saying there were “signals of improvement” and the company added that the market share has stabilized since late April.

Mulvaney seemingly addressed Bud Light for the first time publicly in late June.

Dylan Mulvaney’s partnership with Bud Light.

dylan mulvaney/Instagram; Getty

In a TikTok, Mulvaney revealed that she was waiting for the brand (which she did not use by name) to reach out to her over the past few months, but “they never did.” She listed out the negative effects the subsequent response to the ad have had on her.

“For months now, I’ve been scared to leave my house. I have been ridiculed in public. I’ve been followed. And I have felt a loneliness that I wouldn’t wish on anyone,” she said. “If this is my experience from a very privileged perspective, know that it is much, much worse for other trans people.”

Categories: Trends
Source: HIS Education