Bud Light’s parent company, Anheuser-Busch, is estimated to have lost over one billion dollars in sales after the brand faced boycotts from conservatives over its partnership with trans-identifying influencer Dylan Mulvaney.
Anheuser-Busch’s organic revenue dropped $1.4 billion in North America last year, according to company data reviewed by CNN. Much of this drop is believed to be related to the company’s disastrous marketing partnership with Mulvaney, a man who identifies as a woman.
While the company posted strong returns around the world, the company explained that its growth “was constrained by the performance of our US business,” according to a report put out by the company on Thursday.
“Revenue declined by 17.3% with sales-to-retailers (STRs) down by 12.1%, primarily due to the volume decline of Bud Light. Sales-to-wholesalers (STWs) declined by 16.1% as shipments lagged stronger depletions in December,” the report said of the company’s fourth quarter.
Anheuser-Busch said that its American beer sales were picking up a little bit, but at a very slow pace.
“The beer industry remained resilient in FY23, with volumes improving sequentially throughout the year and with beer gaining share of total alcohol by value in the off-premise, according to Circana. Our beer market share has seen continued gradual improvement since May through the end of December. While our mainstream beer revenues declined this year, our above core beer megabrands continued to grow,” the report said.
Sales of Bud Light plummeted after Mulvaney partnered with the company last year and conservatives called for the company to apologize. The boycott rippled throughout the company as it laid off hundreds of employees and parted ways with top marketers.
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While Bud Light dealt with the public outcry and a nationwide boycott over its partnership with Mulvaney, it was also engaged in a high-profile legal battle over whether the promotion of beer by Mulvaney — who often presents on social media as an entertainer for kids — was compliant with industry standards that ban marketing alcohol to minors.
U.S. Sens. Ted Cruz (R-TX) and Marsha Blackburn (R-TN), both members of the Senate Commerce Committee, wrote a letter on May 17, 2023, that sparked a formal review by the beer industry’s self-regulating body, the Beer Institute, into whether Bud Light was targeting minors through its ads with Mulvaney.
Soon the beer industry’s Advertising and Marketing Code was revised with new policies for social media influencers. The guidelines state that social media posts can only be placed where at least 73.8% of the audience is of legal drinking age — the same standard as for traditional advertisements — and that “age-gating measures” must be used if available.
Brent Scher contributed to this report.