In March 2023, Bud Light had been the number 1 beer in the United States for over 20 years, dominating other well-known brands like Miller and Coors. Anheuser-Busch, which owns Bud Light along with a host of other popular beer brands, sold $2.73 billion worth of beer in the second quarter of 2022 alone.
Then, the iconic brand decided to partner with trans-identifying activist Dylan Mulvaney.
The social media influencer, infamous for a series of videos chronicling his transition called “Days of Girlhood,” showed off a can of the light beer with his face on it on April 1. A few days later, Bud Light confirmed that it had indeed signed a brand partnership deal with Mulvaney in an effort to “authentically connect with audiences.”
Bud Light tried to excuse the partnership as just one of dozens it maintains with influencers around the world and noted that the Mulvaney-themed can was not for sale to the general public, but the firestorm had already been unleashed.
Almost overnight, a beer brand widely regarded as a blue-collar American beverage became anathema among conservatives. Conservative music stars led the charge, with Kid Rock using Bud Light cans for target practice and John Rich barring the beverage from his bar. Soon, calls to boycott the light beer caught like wildfire on social media.
In the first week of the controversy, Bud Light sales decreased 11%, and its stock plunged 20% by the beginning of June, losing Anheuser-Busch billions in market value. Sales drops only became more dramatic as summer began, with the company practically giving away cases of Bud for the 4th of July weekend. Anheuser-Busch’s overall U.S. revenue was down 10.5% in the second quarter of 2023 (April to June) compared to the same period in 2022, and the company’s sales to U.S. retailers fell 14% by early August.
As the backlash grew, Mulvaney high-tailed it out of the country in mid-July, taking a trip to Peru in order to, according to him, “feel safe.”
“I’ve seen a lot of llamas. The people here are so kind. I feel very safe here,” Mulvaney said on TikTok. “It’s a little sad that I had to leave my country to feel safe but that will get better eventually.”
In June, Bud Light lost its place as America’s best-selling beer to the Mexican beer brand Modelo. Anheuser-Busch’s parent company, AB InBev, also owns Modelo, but the U.S. distribution rights are owned by the Chicago-based Constellation Brands as a result of an antitrust lawsuit in 2013.
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While AB InBev still controls 7 of the top 10 best-selling beers in the country, their flagship brand took a massive hit to its reputation and the company’s bottom line. It suffered a revenue loss in its North American market of almost $400 million, and in July Anheuser-Busch announced it would lay off 2% of its American staff — about 350 people.
Trying to court back conservative buyers, Anheuser-Busch quickly tried to distance itself from contentious social issues.
Anheuser-Busch CEO Brendan Whitworth tried to downplay the controversy by assuring customers that “We never intended to be part of a discussion that divides people,” and that “We are in the business of bringing people together over a beer” in a mid-April statement. Whitworth added that he spends a lot of time “listening to and learning from our customers, distributors, and others.” No hint of Dylan Mulvaney, transgenderism, or an apology to offended customers could be found in the statement.
On the day of Whitworth’s statement on the controversy, Budweiser released a new ad titled “Heart of America” that was chocked full of patriotic imagery, including famous landmarks like the Lincoln Memorial and the Grand Canyon. The narrator of the ad was sure to emphasize the company’s American roots and homespun character.
“Let me tell you a story about a beer rooted in the heart of America, found in a community where a handshake is a sure contract; brewed for those who found opportunity in challenge, and hope in tomorrow; raised by generations willing to sip, share, risk, remember. This is a story bigger than beer; this is the story of the American spirit.”
The company also released camo- and Harley Davidson-themed cans, to little effect.
The boycott is still going strong. Modelo still edges out Bud Light for the title of American’s favorite beer. Anheuser-Busch’s stock may have stabilized — largely due to sales from its other brands — but Bud Light sales were down 27% for the four-week period ending in early September, according to Bump Williams Consulting. Even worse, industry sources told ABC News that the brand is set to lose shelf space at major retailers like Walmart and 7-Eleven. Former Anheuser-Busch InBev executive Anson Frericks told the outlet that shelf space represents “the single largest determinant of sales in a store” and warned that the move could result in a “dramatic shift.”
The Bud Light boycott inspired similar boycotts over the summer, most notably one against Target after the retail giant unveiled a Pride Month collection that included LGBT-themed clothes and swimwear for kids.
Target’s second quarter sales for 2023 sank 5.4% compared to the previous year — its first quarterly sales decline in six years — and the company lost billions in market value as its stock plunged. Unlike Anheuser-Busch, Target’s stock has not stabilized and is down roughly 30% since the backlash began.
The Bud Light controversy was not the first time that conservatives had tried to boycott a company over its attempts to push a Left-wing narrative in its advertising, but the sheer number of people who participated and how dramatically Bud Light’s sales plummeted make it unique. Additionally, the fact that such an iconic brand as Bud Light became entangled in one of the most hot-button issues in the country certainly contributed to how extensive the boycott became.
Bud Light’s sales are still floundering and its reputation is ruined among a large portion of the American people. While Bud Light suffered a massive hit, AB InBev’s overall losses are so relatively low because it owns so many other beer brands, unbeknownst to the general public.
Anheuser-Busch’s pivot toward more patriotic ads in the wake of the Dylan Mulvaney fiasco could indicate that it will back off from social justice virtue signaling. Whether this whole affair will introduce a chilling effect to other companies and cause them to think twice about wading into the culture wars is yet to be seen. But in an environment where more and more giant corporations are weighing in on political issues (almost always in favor of the Left), conservatives should be encouraged by the results of their battle against America’s former favorite brew.