Bud Light’s parent company, Anheuser-Busch, has lost $27 billion in market value after collaborating with transgender influencer Dylan Mulvaney.
The brewing giant decided to use Mulvaney, 26, for its March Madness campaign when the social media star posted the now-infamous promo when the brand sent her a personalized beer can to celebrate “365 Days of Girlhood.”
AB InBev’s market cap fell to $107.44 billion through the end of May, down more than $27 billion from the company’s $134.55 billion value as of March 31as maintained by Dow Jones Market Data Group.
The stock is down 19.98 percent from its recent high in March, entering an official bear market — down 20 percent. May was the third-worst month ever for the company’s stock.
According to Bump Williams Consulting, Bud Light sales also plummeted 25.7 percent for the week ending May 20, compared to a year ago.
It’s the sharpest drop in sales since the Mulvaney controversy, with Bud Light falling 24.3 percent between April 1 and May 20.
Bud Light’s parent company Anheuser-Busch has lost $27 billion in market value after partnering with transgender influencer Dylan Mulvaney
Anheuser-Busch said in early May it would triple its US marketing spending this summer to boost distressed sales.
The marketing decision appears to be one of the worst in US history to come from a backlash in advertising.
Vice President Alissa Heinerscheid took a leave of absence earlier this year following the controversy surrounding the brewing giant’s decision to use Mulvaney.
Heinerscheid, 39, wasn’t alone in stepping down after the backlash that created the biggest corporate disaster in a decade — as the VP for Mainstream Brands, Daniel Blake, also stepped down.
But their sudden departure seems premature after bosses said the decision to work with Mulvaney was made by an “outside agency with no management awareness or approval.”
When approached by DailyMail.com with claims she had no idea about the campaign, Heinerscheid declined to comment – but a friend said ‘she can’t talk about it, she can’t’, before being taken away.
It’s unclear whether Heinerscheid, who was seen walking close to her $8 million apartment near Central Park, is on paid leave from the company, but she joined in 2022, promising to refresh her image.
On March 30, Heinerscheid gave an interview to a business podcast in which she said she wants to make Bud Light less “fratty” and more “inclusive.”
Two days later, on April 1, Mulvaney — who began transitioning to female in 2021 — was revealed as a brand partner.
The company said that both Heinerscheid and Blake “decided” to step down temporarily, but their decisions were reportedly not voluntary.
Vice President Alissa Heinerscheid was taken over by Todd Allen, who recently served as Global Vice President of Budweiser
When approached by DailyMail.com with claims she had no idea about the campaign, Heinerscheid (left) declined to comment – but a friend said ‘she can’t talk about it’ before being taken away
‘Given the circumstances, Alissa has decided to take leave, which we support. Daniel has also decided to take a leave of absence,” the company said.
Heinerscheid’s job was taken over by Todd Allen, who recently served as global vice president of Budweiser.
The details of how the fiasco broke out remain secret, though the boycott continues to affect sales and market value of the compromised brand.
The company has been forced to provide “financial aid” to the frontline workers affected by the boycott, according to a statement from global CEO Michel Doukeris.
Only JC Penney has beaten Anheuser-Bush, seeing their shares plummet more than 25 percent in 2012 after they featured a lesbian couple and their daughter in an ad.
They also hired Ellen DeGeneres as a spokesperson and eventually fired their then-CEO Ron Johnsons, who defended the move.
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.
Daniel Blake, Anheuser-Busch’s vice president of mainstream brands, also resigned
For the week ending May 20, Bud Light sales were down 25.7% from the same week a year ago
Many conservative celebrity faces quickly dropped Bud Light after hooking up with Mulvaney, with Kid Rock firing at several cases of beer saying “f*** Bud Light and f*** Anheuser-Busch.” Have a great day.’
Her posts saw musician Kid Rock pulling the beers from his bar, and country singers John Rich and Travis Tritt both publicly denouncing the band.
Analysts at HSBC even cut Anheuser-Busch’s stock because it is in the midst of a “crisis” over the marketing blunder.
Carlos Laboy, general manager of HSBC’s global beverage sector, downgraded Anheuser-Busch InBev’s stock to a hold status. It means that investors are not allowed to buy or sell shares of the company.
He said the backlash is a sign there are “deeper issues than ABI is admitting,” questioning whether it was “hiring the best people to grow the brands and measure risk.”
After Anheuser-Busch attempted to distance itself from the Mulvaney promotion, Bud Light also faced backlash from the opposite direction, with pro-LGBTQ groups accusing the company of abandoning the transgender influencer.
Still, Michel Doukeris, CEO of Anheuser-Busch InBev, downplayed the impact of the setback, saying that US Bud Light sales declines in the first three weeks of April accounted for just 1 percent of InBev’s global volumes.
“We think we have the experience, the resources and the partners to manage this,” Doukeris said during a conference call with investors in early May.