A business research agency found that when Bud Light endorsed transgender influencer Dylan Mulvaney, sales of the beverage dropped by a “staggering” amount. Sales have dropped by an alarming 17%, according to recent estimates.
NielsenIQ and Bump Williams Consulting’s most recent sales data shows a 17% decrease in dollar sales and a huge 21% decrease in volume for Bud Light in the week ending April 15.
In the week ending April 8th, Bud Light sales dropped 6% in dollars and 11% in volume. On April 1, the acrimonious Mulvaney social media campaign had just begun.
The April 23 issue of Insights Express, a beer magazine, remarked, “These numbers are mind-boggling.” There is a lot of pressure on Anheuser-Busch right now, and the Bud Light brand and AB distributors are all feeling the effects.
Because of the Mulvaney campaign, Anheuser-Busch has received a lot of bad press. Alissa Heinerscheid and Daniel Blake, the company’s heads of marketing and the people responsible for hiring Mulvaney, announced their vacation on Friday and throughout the weekend.
Meanwhile, rivals of Bud Light are making a killing off the confusion. According to the article, Bud Light lost 6.7% of its market share last week, while both Coors Light and Miller Lite gained 18%. Coors Light gained 10.6 percent and Miller Lite gained 11.5 percent in market share, respectively, in the previous week.
According to data compiled by Insights Express, “Coors Light and Miller Lite once again did very well.”
On Tuesday, officials from Anheuser-Busch will meet with corporate leaders in Washington, DC.
Insights Express reports that some wholesalers have postponed marketing events including the famous Budweiser Clydesdales because they want a more comprehensive and well-thought-out approach from Anheuser-Busch to reverse the beer’s unfavorable press and declining sales.