The Anheuser-Busch heir says his family will buy Bud Light back from its parent company if they want to relieve the brand after months of declining sales.
Billy Busch, whose family sold Anheuser-Busch to InBev in 2008, said he would be “first in line” to buy back Bud Light and “make that brand great again.”
Busch presented the deal on an episode of conservative pundit Tomi Lahren’s show “Fearless.”
The offer comes nearly five months after Anheuser-Busch’s disastrous partnership with transgender influencer Dylan Mulvaney, which led to a massive boycott and a $27 billion drop in the company’s market cap.
In 2008, the Busch family sold the company to InBev – a Belgian company – for a whopping $52 billion.
Bud Light sales have plummeted since April, when a disastrous partnership with transgender influencer Dylan Mulvaney led to a boycott
Busch’s bid comes nearly five months after Anheuser-Busch’s disastrous partnership with transgender influencer Dylan Mulvaney, which led to a massive boycott and a $27 billion market cap drop
Shortly after Bud Light teamed up with Mulvaney in April to celebrate her transition to womanhood, conservative groups began boycotting the brand.
Notoriously, Alissa Heinerscheid, the marketing executive who made the decision to partner with Mulvaney, also gave an interview where she said the brand wanted to move away from its “frat house” base of drinkers.
Lahren questioned Busch about those comments, to which he said, “I think InBev doesn’t understand who their main drinker is. It’s a company from Brazil that really doesn’t live here in America.’
Adding that “it’s a big mistake” to ignore the “fratty drinker,” and mocking the company for disobeying the principles of its own inclusiveness mandate.
He said that when his family ran the business, Anheuser-Busch forged important relationships with its customers, including distributors and liquor store owners.
“They knew who their drinkers were. They were with the bar owners and the restaurant owners and the liquor store owners and talked to these people day in and day out,” he said.
“Even my dad at 89, 90 years old, he still went to the bars selling Budweiser back then, in the ’80s.”
He added that InBev’s big mistake was hiring and relying on a new generation of “woke” students to run the company’s marketing department.
“If you are a foreign company and you rely on these awake students who come from these awake colleges to advertise you, you are making a big mistake.”
“You have to go out and understand who your most important customer is.”
He continued by saying he would buy back the company to save it from the ongoing downward spiral.
“I urge that company, InBev, if they no longer want that brand, they sell it back to the Busch family. Sell it to me. I’m first in line to repurchase that brand from you. And we will make that brand great again,” he said.
“If you’re a foreign company and you’re relying on these awake students who come from these awake colleges to do your advertising for you, you’re committing a big mistake,” Busch said.
Earlier this month, Anheuser-Busch published blamed Bud Light’s ‘volume drop’ for the $390 million drop in US sales in Q2 – with figures showing overall US sales fell in the period April-June by 10.5 percent compared to a year earlier.
The world’s largest brewer said in early August that sales to US retailers were down 14 percent, adding that the brand was “underperforming in the industry.” The drop-off is a direct result of the pairing with Mulvaney.
For the second quarter of 2022, Anheuser Busch sold $2.73 billion worth of beer to retailers. But for the second quarter of 2023, sales fell to $2.35 billion — a slump of $390 million in a year.
In a statement, the company attributed the falling sales to the backlash they experienced when they partnered with 26-year-old Mulvaney and handed her a one-of-a-kind can to celebrate “365 days of girlhood.”
The promotion sparked outrage among drinkers, who accused Bud Light of forcing progressive beliefs on them and their favorite brand.
For the second quarter of 2023, AB revenue fell to $2.35 billion – a year-over-year decline of $390 million
Mulvaney broke her silence over the controversy over her infamous partnership with the embattled beer brand, saying the brand never reached out
Earlier this month, Busch said his ancestors would “roll in their graves” if they saw the backlash against the brand.
“I think my family — my ancestors would have turned in their graves,” Busch said when asked by longtime TMZ boss Harvey Levin what he thought of the fallout.
“They believed that transgender, er, gays, that sort of thing was all a very personal issue,” he continued, speaking for pioneering figures such as his father August, who served as president from 1946 to 1975, and Adolphus, the Missouri magnate who cooked the first batch of Budweiser way back in 1876.”
Mulvaney has also spoken out against the brand, saying they left her hanging when she became the target of the backlash.
Speaking to her 1.8 million followers, Mulvaney said, “I waited for the brand to contact me, but they never did. I have been afraid to leave my house.
Speaking to her 1.8 million followers earlier Thursday, Mulvaney said, “I waited for the brand to contact me, but they never did. I have been afraid to leave my house.