The Epoch Times
The Epoch Times
AD
The Epoch Times
Support Us
SHARE
Business & MarketsCompanies

Bud Light Situation Getting ‘Worse,’ Beer Industry Expert Says

A beer industry expert says that the Bud Light situation is getting worse amid a boycott over the brand’s partnership with a transgender influencer.
Copy
Facebook
X
Truth
Gettr
LinkedIn
Telegram
Email
Save
Bud Light Situation Getting ‘Worse,’ Beer Industry Expert Says
A can of Bud Light in a cup holder in the stands at Oriole Park at Camden Yards, in Baltimore, on June 28, 2023. Rob Carr/Getty Images
Tom Ozimek
By Tom Ozimek
9/8/2023Updated: 9/10/2023
0:00

As the fallout from Bud Light’s marketing partnership with transgender activist Dylan Mulvaney is well into its sixth month, a beer industry expert said that the company’s decline seems “quasi-permanent,” with few signs of abating.

Bud Light’s sales slump deepened in mid-August amid ongoing backlash from the brand’s engagement with Mr. Mulvaney, who recently poked fun at the controversy during an awards show, sparking a fresh round of critical news headlines.

Conservative calls for a boycott of Bud Light have been a pillar of the backlash, with Harry Schuhmacher, the publisher of Beer Business Daily, commenting on the woes the brand has suffered since Mr. Mulvaney showed off a personalized Bud Light can with his face on it on April Fools Day earlier this year.

Mr. Schuhmacher, who’s been the publisher of Beer Business Daily for 20 years, told Fox News in an interview on Sept. 8 that the Bud Light situation “has actually gotten worse.”

His publication recently reported on Bud Light’s weekly sales trends—down by 26.9 percent in dollars and by 30.3 percent in volume in year-over-year terms, based on Nielsen IQ sales data via Bump Williams Consulting.

Mr. Schuhmacher told Fox News that he thinks Bud Light will probably see similar declines for the “foreseeable future.”

Related Stories
Ex-Bud Light Executive Responds to Bill Gates’ Purchase of Bud Light Parent Company
9/7/2023
Ex-Bud Light Executive Responds to Bill Gates’ Purchase of Bud Light Parent Company
Bill Gates Backs Bud Light With $95 Million Bet
9/6/2023
Bill Gates Backs Bud Light With $95 Million Bet

“Bud Light still just stubbornly down around 30 percent in volume compared to last year, which is where it’s been since May or June,” Mr. Schuhmacher told the outlet.

“That tells me that this is quasi-permanent, meaning those consumers are just lost forever,” he added.

He said he thought Bud Light’s sales “would have rebounded by now,” but the backlash to the brand’s partnership with Mr. Mulvaney appears to have hit a major nerve with consumers and done lasting damage.

“It’s actually worse than just lost sales because now it’s getting to the point where it’s becoming systemic within the industry, and they’re losing the confidence of the retailers and that’s when it starts getting bad,” he told Fox.

Mr. Schuhmacher added that he sees the summer of 2024 as a key test for Bud Light’s long-term success.

But one prominent businessman, Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates, appears to be betting on a Bud Light rebound.

Gates Backs Bud Light

Ms. Gates bought tens of millions of dollars worth of Bud Light’s parent company in recent days, according to reporting from The Epoch Times.

The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation Trust purchased 1.7 million shares of Anheuser-Busch, the parent company of Bud Light, at a value of about $95 million, according to a regulatory filing and TipRanks.

Microsoft founder Bill Gates speaks at a news conference in Davos, Switzerland, on May 25, 2022. (Markus Schreiber/AP Photo)
Microsoft founder Bill Gates speaks at a news conference in Davos, Switzerland, on May 25, 2022. Markus Schreiber/AP Photo

Mr. Gates reportedly purchased the shares in August, several months after Bud Light first faced boycott calls over its partnership with Mr. Mulvaney.

News of Mr. Gates’s purchase was met with a critical reaction from a former executive at the company.

“Bill Gates is definitely making a mistake,” former Anheuser-Busch executive Anson Frericks told Fox Business. “Earlier this year, he already made a $900 million mistake when he invested into one of Anheuser-Busch’s largest rivals, Heineken.”

“He did that earlier this year. And since that investment, Heineken’s down about 10 percent, whereas the broader markets are up 10 percent,” Mr. Frericks added.

The Boycott

Bud Light’s ongoing sales slump was prompted by the brand’s engagement with Mr. Mulvaney—a man who identifies as a woman.

“This month, I celebrated my day 365 of womanhood, and Bud Light sent me possibly the best gift ever—a can with my face on it,” Mr. Mulvaney said in a video posted on social media on April Fool’s Day.

Mr. Mulvaney, who has more than 10 million followers on TikTok, posted a series of videos promoting Bud Light and showing off the personalized can.

Conservatives accused the brand of promoting a transgender agenda and called for a boycott.

Singer Kid Rock used Bud Light cans as target practice to express his anger at the promotional campaign, while Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said he would be boycotting Bud Light.

Kid Rock during the NASCAR Cup Series 64th Annual Daytona 500 at Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Florida, on Feb. 20, 2022. (Mike Ehrmann/Getty Images)
Kid Rock during the NASCAR Cup Series 64th Annual Daytona 500 at Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Florida, on Feb. 20, 2022. Mike Ehrmann/Getty Images

Former President Donald Trump also weighed in on the controversy, suggesting boycotts can be an effective way to send a message to brands that critics say are pushing a leftist agenda.

“It’s time to beat the Radical Left at their own game,” President Trump wrote in a post on Truth Social in May. “Money does talk—Anheuser-Busch now understands that.”

Since the boycott calls began in April, Anheuser-Busch InBev has lost billions of dollars in revenue.

Meanwhile, the market value of Anheuser-Busch InBev has sunk to about $111.6 billion on Sept. 8, from about $132.4 billion on April 1, the day Mr. Mulvaney trumpeted the personalized can on social media,

In another sign that the boycott is having an effect, Bud Light has been replaced as the top-selling brand in the United States by competitor Modelo.

Tom Ozimek
Tom Ozimek
Reporter
Tom Ozimek is a senior reporter for The Epoch Times. He has a broad background in journalism, deposit insurance, marketing and communications, and adult education.
twitter
Author’s Selected Articles

CIA Says Winning Tech War With China Top Priority, Citing ‘Existential Threat’ to US

May 22, 2025
CIA Says Winning Tech War With China Top Priority, Citing ‘Existential Threat’ to US

CIA Reports Shooting Outside Its Headquarters in Virginia

May 22, 2025
CIA Reports Shooting Outside Its Headquarters in Virginia

Americans to See Net Gains Under GOP Budget Bill but Deficit Would Rise by $3.8 Trillion: CBO

May 21, 2025
Americans to See Net Gains Under GOP Budget Bill but Deficit Would Rise by $3.8 Trillion: CBO

90 Percent of US Companies Plan to Reshore Amid Tariffs, Allianz Survey Finds

May 21, 2025
90 Percent of US Companies Plan to Reshore Amid Tariffs, Allianz Survey Finds
Related Topics
boycott
Bud Light
Dylan Mulvaney
Save
The Epoch Times
Copyright © 2000 - 2025 The Epoch Times Association Inc. All Rights Reserved.