George Strait concertgoers IGNORE Bud Light tent as Dylan Mulvaney debacle continues
Bud Light has taken another hit after fans at a George Strait concert were caught on camera deliberately avoiding the beer – and looking for other options.
The Anheuser-Busch-owned brand teamed up with transgender influencer Dylan Mulvaney for an ad during March Madness.
But the decision backfired, tanking the Belgian brewing giant $19 billion off its market value since the April 1 ad.
Images posted to Twitter showed dozens of cans of Bud Light and other Anheuser-Busch products still on shelves in Columbus, Ohio, while fans of the “King of Country” bought other beverages.
Both Budweiser and Michelob Ultra also remained on refrigerator shelves, though it was unclear whether the boycott of all Anheuser-Busch products was intentional or not.
Images posted to Twitter showed dozens of cans of Bud Light and other Anheuser-Busch products still on shelves in Columbus, Ohio, as fans of the “King of Country” bought other beverages
One man picked up a blue can, but it was unclear if it was Bud Light or not, while others continued to drink Ultras – with one person saying, “But they drink Michelob ultra?” They’re still giving money to Anheuser-Busch, but do you think they’re hurting the makers of Bud Light?’
Many were quick to praise the supposed light beer ban, saying, We’ve been to an AAA baseball game and an MLB game this season. The grab and go stands full of Anheuser-Busch products were not touched.
“The ballparks have mostly Bud products available, and beer sales have plummeted.”
It comes after Anheuser-Busch lost nearly $19 billion since partnering with 26-year-old Mulvaney, as nationwide boycotts of the beer began and sales plummeted.
Since April 1, the company has been consistently dropping down the rankings, with experts saying it’s “getting a little worse every week.”
But their competitors have added $3.2 billion in market value to their brands in the same time.
Molson Coors, owner of Coors Lite, has seen a $2.2 billion market value increase, about 20 percent, while Heineken has peaked at $1 billion – up 1.7 percent.
Mulvaney posted the content on the occasion of the NCAA March Madness tournament, before joking that she didn’t know what sport she was promoting.
Both Budweiser and Michelob Ultra also remained on refrigerator shelves, though it was unclear whether the boycott of all Anheuser-Busch products was intentional or not
The decision backfired, tanking the Belgian brewing giant $19 billion off its market value since the April 1 ad
Kid Rock shot at a case of beer after discovering the collaboration, yelling “F*** Bud Light and f*** Anheuser-Busch. Have a great day’
Timothy Calkins, co-chairman of Northwestern Kellogg’s marketing department, told Fox Business, “I think we’ll see more brands be very careful about getting involved in the middle of some of these really controversial issues.
“At Bud Light, it was pretty clear that decisions were being made by the team working on the brand, not more senior executives. And so there wasn’t really a line in there.
“I think a team would say afterwards: you really don’t want to get involved in that controversial subject.”
In the company’s latest efforts to deal with the backlash, Anheuser-Busch has told wholesalers it will buy back unsold cases of past-expired Bud Light.
The Mulvaney deal came after the brand’s ousted marketing chief, Alissa Heinerscheid, said she planned to update the “fratty” and “out of touch” branding.
Industry analysts have warned that unless something drastic changes, the negative volume trends will continue into the summer.
Bud Light sales have fallen significantly since the beer’s partnership with Dyland Mulvaney, and analysts at JPMorgan expect Anheuser-Busch’s revenues to fall 26% this year
Mulvaney posted the content on the occasion of the NCAA March Madness tournament, sparking a backlash against Bud Light
A new profile of the company’s handling of PR, social media and sales responses admits the company and CEO Michel Doukeris (pictured) are trying to fix their failures
For the week ending May 6, Bud Light retail sales in the US were down 23.6 percent compared to the previous year. And the week before, ending April 29, sales were down 23.3 percent.
This follows sales declines for the week ending April 22, which were 21.4 percent. And seven days earlier, the dip was 17 percent, according to NielsenIQ data provided to Dailymail.com by Bump Williams Consultancy.
The data – which shows sales in the US are falling by as much as 20 percent each week – has since been described as “poor” by industry experts.
Bump Williams of Bump Williams Consultancy told DailyMail.com, “I don’t think the sales/volume declines will get any worse, but I do think their negative volume trends will continue.”
He said a 20 percent drop in sales appears to be the new “normal” for Bud Light.
But he added that experts are waiting to see what will happen to sales during Memorial Day and the summer sales season to assess whether the damage will continue.