Bud Light sales continue to fall, a reality that could soon place its status as the world’s number-one beer brand in jeopardy.
Bud Light recently garnered controversy after partnering with social media influencer Dylan Mulvaney, a man who identifies as a woman and documented his “gender transition” on TikTok. Sales for the beer brand fell 25.7% for the week ended May 20, according to data shared with The New York Post from Bump Williams Consulting and NielsenIQ. Modelo Especial, which saw sales grow 9.2%, could meanwhile replace Bud Light.
“While Bud Light loses week after week, Modelo Especial gains week after week and now Modelo outsells Bud Light on a national basis across all trade channels combined,” Bump Williams remarked in a comment to The New York Post. “If this continues Modelo will surpass Bud Light for the year.”
Other brands owned by Anheuser-Busch continued to decline for the week ended May 20: Budweiser sales decreased 11.2%, Michelob Ultra sales fell 6.5%, Busch Light sales decreased 5.2%, and Natural Light sales dropped 4.9%.
Constellation Brands owns and produces Modelo Especial in the United States, while Anheuser-Busch produces the brand in other nations.
Yuengling Flight sales increased 47.6%. Williams told The New York Post, “Yuengling is having a great moment with the greatest growth of all the premium beers.”
Anheuser-Busch seems to have alienated those on both ends of the political spectrum in the weeks after the controversial partnership with Mulvaney. Owners of gay bars have threatened to launch boycotts after the company issued a statement interpreted as downplaying the alliance, while the Human Rights Campaign (HRC), the nation’s largest LGBTQ political lobbying organization, removed the firm’s perfect score on the Corporate Equality Index, which the group describes as the “national benchmarking tool on corporate policies, practices and benefits pertinent to lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer employees.”
HRC officials said the conglomerate missed a “key moment” to support Mulvaney as the company sought to mend relations with conservatives. Anheuser-Busch CEO Brendan Whitworth had issued a statement about the partnership, although the communication fell short of mentioning the nod to Mulvaney or transgenderism. “We never intended to be part of a discussion that divides people,” the executive said. “We are in the business of bringing people together over a beer.”
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The continued backlash against Bud Light comes as other brands embracing leftist ideology experience tumult. Stock market value for retail behemoth Target declined precipitously in recent days after the firm marketed a female swimsuit as “tuck-friendly” and with “extra crotch coverage,” as well as hired an artist who previously created Satanic items to make various designs for the company.
One recent analysis from The Daily Wire found that Target had published a sustainability report which called for supplier diversity among firms creating Pride Month apparel, as well as diversity initiatives for women and racial minorities. Another report from The Daily Wire found that Anheuser-Busch has ESG commitments centered on diversity and climate efforts. Skeptics of the ESG movement contend that the philosophy centers on social causes in a manner that distracts from profitability and uses corporate power to advance leftist agendas.