Anheuser-Busch Executive Says the ‘Feedback Is Very Clear’ Amid Bud Light Boycott

Cans of Bud Light chill in a refrigerator in Oakland, Calif., on April 28, 2023. (Jeff Chiu/AP Photo)

The chief executive of Anheuser-Busch’s U.S. division said that financial assistance will be delivered to wholesalers and distributors impacted by the Bud Light boycott.

Brendan Whitworth, the CEO, noted that he has responsibility for the financial repercussions faced by consumers, distributors, and employees in connection to the boycott. In April, transgender social media influencer Dylan Mulvaney posted a video of a Bud Light can with the influencer’s likeness on it, leading a number of conservative celebrities to criticize the move.

“I think it’s the impact, honestly on the employees, that weighs most on me. Again, as I mentioned, seeing the pride and the commitment that they have, working on behalf of [a] 165-plus-year-old American institution is what gives us energy as we look to move forward and focus on what we do best,” Whitworth told CBS News on Wednesday morning.

During the interview, Whitworth, a former CIA officer, was asked about his company’s support of LGBT groups and again stressed that his company is pro-LGBT. But he then pivoted, using Anheuser-Busch marketing language to promote the product.

“As we move forward, we want to focus on what we do best, which is brewing great beer for everyone, listening to our consumers, being humble in listening to them, making sure that we do right by our employee, take care and support our partners, and ultimately make an impact in the communities that we serve,” Whitworth said,

Anheuser-Busch is still planning to triple its investment in Bud Light this year, he told CBS, echoing previous public commitments to the beleaguered brand that were made by Anheuser-Busch InBev’s CEO and other executives. During the CBS interview, he did not make mention of the Mulvaney controversy or reports that Anheuser-Busch may have terminated the employment of previous Bud Light executives.

“Over the last month we’ve talked to over 100,000 consumers and their feedback is very clear. What is it? The feedback is to reinforce what Bud Light has always meant to them, which is good times goodwill, and easy enjoyment,” Whitworth said, without elaborating.

Another executive with Bud Light, Todd Allen, told another outlet that Bud Light has “more than tripled our already weighty national media investment” and that Bud Light will be distributed at “all relevant occasions in summer—backyard barbecues, stadiums, and sports venues.”

Flags fly in front of the packaging plant for Anheuser-Busch Cos. in St. Louis, Mo., on July 14, 2008. (Whitney Curtis/Getty Images)

However, data from Bump Williams Consulting, as reported by the New York Post, shows that Bud Light’s sales are still on the decline. For the week ending June 17, sales are down 28.5 percent, or down about 2 percentage points from the previous week, data shows.

Other Anheuser-Busch-owned brands including Michelob, Busch Light, and Michelob Ultra also experienced declines, although none nearly as bad as Bud Light. Sales of Budweiser were down about 12.3 percent year-over-year, the data shows.

Possible Warning

While some analysts and researchers have said that boycotts rarely work, some have said that the controversy may have permanently driven some of Bud Light’s customer base away.

Evercore’s Robert Ottenstein said Bud Light will “permanently lose” between 15 and 20 percent of its volume. After that, “declines will resume at about the average rate of the prior 10 years,” he said.

“We believe recent underperformance implies a permanent reduction in ABI’s U.S. business,” Deutsche Bank analyst Mitch Collett also wrote in a recent note, it was reported. “Our proprietary survey data suggests these headwinds are likely to fade even if we do not expect the U.S. business ever to fully recover from its current challenges.”

Other Details

Some consumers have called on Bud Light to issue an apology for the Mulvaney incident, and the company has drawn negative feedback for not doing so in a recent summer-themed advertisement.

Executives with Bud Light and Anheuser-Busch have never explicitly addressed the boycott or Mulvaney. Days after the controversy erupted, Whitworth released a statement saying that the company “never intended to be part of a discussion that divides people.

“We are in the business of bringing people together over a beer,”  he said in a public statement issued on April 14.

It all started when Bud Light produced a can for Mulvaney, a biological male who then posted the product on social media. Mulvaney also claimed to be in a partnership with the brand in a hashtag, although Anheuser-Busch distanced itself from those claims.

In a conference call with investors, CEO Michel Doukeris said that only one can with Mulvaney’s face was produced and claimed there was no partnership, despite Mulvaney’s hashtag. He also told the Financial Times that alleged misinformation and confusion may be the cause of the boycott, saying that more financial resources will be provided to delivery drivers and frontline workers.

An advertisement released by a local Alabama Budweiser and Anheuser-Busch product distributor, meanwhile, asserted that Bud Light never was in a partnership with Mulvaney.