Anheuser-Busch lost a whopping $390M in Q2 after Bud Light sales to retailers plummeted 14% following the brand’s partnership with transgender influencer Dylan Mulvaney
Anheuser-Busch lost a whopping $390 million in US sales after teaming up with transgender influencer Dylan Mulvaney.
The parent company blamed Bud Light’s “volume drop” on the second-quarter sales decline.
Figures show that their sales in the US fell by 10.5 percent in the April-June period compared to a year earlier.
The world’s largest brewer said on Thursday that sales to US retailers were down 14 percent, adding that they were “underperforming the industry.” This was a direct result of the tie-in 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.
Bud Light’s popularity has plummeted since brewer Anheuser-Busch teamed up with 26-year-old Mulvaney and gave her a personalized can.
Anheuser-Busch lost a whopping $395 million in US sales after teaming up with transgender influencer Dylan Mulvaney in April
The top line of this portion of the earnings report showed how sales to retailers declined $395 million between Q2 2022 and Q2 2023
In a statement, the company attributed the declining sales to the backlash they faced over partnering with 26-year-old Mulvaney and issuing a one-of-a-kind can to her.
The can was gifted to Mulvaney to celebrate 365 days of being “a girl,” the phrase she uses to describe her transition from male to female.
But it sparked outrage among drinkers, who accused Bud Light of forcing progressive beliefs on them and their favorite brand.
The debate over transgender rights is currently a hot-button issue in the United States.
Gender-critical feminists oppose allowing transgender women into some women-only spaces, such as domestic violence shelters.
There is also widespread opposition to trans women competing against biological women in sports because the fear of going through male puberty gives them an unfair advantage.
While Mulvaney has largely avoided these issues, her affiliation with Bud Light seemed to act as a lightning rod for people concerned about progressive ideologies, providing a direct means to hurt a brand that supported them.
Bud Light has also been dethroned as the top drink by Modelo Especial – another Anheuser-Busch brand – which claims more than $27 billion in market value.
Dylan Mulvaney shared a series of promotional messages featuring Bud Light beer cans with her face on them on April 1 to celebrate her “365 days of being a girl.”
Anheuser-Busch, the parent company of Bud Light, has seen its market cap drop by $27 billion after a disastrous partnership with transgender influencer Dylan Mulvaney
The brand’s deposed marketing chief, Alissa Heinerscheid, 39, said she planned to update the “fratty” and “out of touch” branding. VP for Mainstream Brands Daniel Blake, 34, also took voluntary leave earlier this year following the controversy
Anheuser-Busch owns Modelo in countries outside the states following an antitrust settlement with the Justice Department in 2013 over fears it would stifle competition.
It means Modelo sales in the US are controlled by rival Constellation Brands and do not count as part of AB InBev’s global volumes.
Modelo surpassed Bud Light’s $297 million — which was a 22.8 percent drop in revenue compared to the same time last year. They reported an 11 percent increase in sales for the second quarter of this year.
It is the first time since 2001 that Bud Light has not taken the top spot, dethroning its sister brand Budweiser in 2001 for the title of ‘King of Beer’.
One of the ongoing issues was that Anheuser-Busch forced two of its top executives to take “leave of leave” after the major marketing blunder.
There were claims that both executives were eventually fired over the fiasco – something the company denies.
VP of marketing Alissa Heinerscheid, 39, and VP for Mainstream Brands Daniel Blake, 34, both took voluntary leave after the backlash.
Sales of the Modelo Especial stores rose above $333 million in the four weeks ended May 28 — an increase of 15.6 percent over the same period last year
The transgender TikTok star has been shrugging off criticism since she embarked on a disastrous partnership with Bud Light to celebrate ‘365 Days of Girlhood’
But sources told the Daily Caller that both were officially fired after announcing they would step down in April.
When a friend of Heinerscheid was approached by DailyMail.com earlier this month, he said “she can’t talk about it, she can’t.”
In a statement to DailyMail.com, an Anheuser-Busch spokesperson said they were both still on “leave.”
Mulvaney only recently broke her silence about the fiasco, berating the troubled brand for not standing by her side.
She told her 1.8 million followers, “I waited for the brand to contact me, but they never did. I have been afraid to leave my house.
“If a company hires a trans person and then doesn’t publicly assist them, that’s worse than not hiring a trans person at all.
“I’ve been ridiculed in public, I’ve been followed, and I’ve felt a loneliness I wouldn’t wish on anyone.”
After going public with her criticism, Anheuser-Busch hit back in a statement to say they are “committed to the programs and partnerships” they have forged with the LGBTQ+ community.
The company didn’t directly name Mulvaney, but their comments came immediately after she lashed out at them for not supporting her and the trans community.
In the statement, they said: “The privacy and security of our employees and our partners is always our top priority.
“As we move forward, we will focus on what we do best: brewing great beer for everyone and earning our place in times that matter to our consumers.”