Bud Light still behind competing beer brands after rough 2023 – Washington Examiner

It has been over a year since Bud Light’s controversial online marketing collaboration, and the brand still has not quite recovered from the backlash it generated.

The controversy from last year occurred when Bud Light collaborated with transgender social media megastar Dylan Mulvaney, prompting sharp criticism online and noticeably decreased sales. Since then, the beer lost its spot as the most purchased beer in the United States, and is currently behind both Modelo and Michelob ULTRA in year-to-date sales ending July 6.

Notably, all three of these beer brands are connected to Anheuser-Busch InBev, which owns Michelob ULTRA and Bud Light. Modelo is owned by Anheuser-Busch InBev outside of the U.S., and Constellation Brands owns Modelo within the U.S.

“Bud Light is still the #1 selling beer in the United States on a volume basis (cases) and has started to recover from the Dylan Mulvaney situation that occurred on April 1st of 2023,” read a statement from Bump Williams Consulting firm. “While $ sales aren’t quite back into the ‘positive’ yet, the declines for the brand have improved dramatically, and Retailer support continues to improve week after week.”

Modelo took the top spot for beer sales within the U.S., accounting for 9.3% of sales year-to-date sales ending toward the start of this month. Michelob ULTRA took second place with 7.1% sales in the same time period, while Bud Light was right behind in third with 7%.

Bud Light’s rocky financial road started shortly after its marketing collaboration with Mulvaney, which prompted musician Kid Rock to film himself shooting multiple cases of Bud Light before flipping off the camera and yelling, “F*** Bud Light and f*** Anheuser-Busch.” Since then, the musician has dropped his grudge against the beer brand, arguing “they got the message” over the pushback it received.

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“At the end of the day, I’m like, alright, they got the message,” Kid Rock, whose real name is Robert James Ritchie, said on The Joe Rogan Experience. “I’m not someone who holds a f***ing grudge his whole life, you know what I mean?”

Similarly, former President Donald Trump told his supporters they should give Anheuser-Busch “a second chance,” pointing out how the brewing company gives money to farmers in the U.S. every year and also employs U.S. veterans. The statement from Trump was made the same day Jeff Miller, a lobbyist who had been hired by Anheuser-Busch, announced he would be hosting a fundraiser for Trump.

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