Bud Light’s sales drop of as much as 20 percent week-over-week could become the “new normal” following the company’s disastrous Dylan Mulvaney debacle.
Industry analysts have warned that unless something drastic changes, negative volume trends will continue into the summer months, due to the beer brand’s partnership with the transgender influencer.
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.
Dylan Mulvaney, 26, posted her first collaboration with Bud Light on April 1.
Alcohol industry analyst Bump Williams said Bud Light sales could continue to fall as much as 20 percent a week after the beer company’s debacle with Dylan Mulvaney
The controversial trans influencer was sent a can of Bud Light with her face on it to celebrate her transition from male to female one year ago.
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.
Williams, who specializes in the alcohol industry, told the St Louis Business Journal: “This seems to be where the brand’s weekly declines are starting to settle in, with a -20% drop in the past week.
“I wonder if this will be the ‘bottom’ for the expected decline in Bud Light going forward, unless something drastic changes.”
Anheuser-Busch has been contacted for comment.
Meanwhile, at a CVS in West Palm Beach, Florida, attempting to move some of its Bud Light stock shelves were completely stocked with multipacks of the beers.
Onlookers joked that no one wanted to buy the alcohol after the scandal.
Mulvaney announced her partnership with Bud Light on April 1, and the response was immediate
Bump Williams of Bump Williams Consultancy told DailyMail.com: “I don’t think the declines in sales/volume will get any worse, but I do think their negative volume trends will continue”
Another person said that after driving around various stores and gas stations in Mississippi, they saw a plethora of Bud products because “no one is buying it.”
Williams previously said Bud Light should apologize, adding, “Right now their compass is completely broken. There’s no game plan.’
Williams said that without a clear plan to navigate the setback and reverse the decline in sales, “Bud Light is in serious trouble this year.” He said the brand is still the number one selling brand in America, but risks being overtaken by Modelo Especial by the end of the year if the backlash continues.
His assessment comes after another PR expert told DailyMail.com that Bud Light needs to get the issue right or “they’ll only hurt themselves further.”
Bud’s current responses were lame explanations of the Mulvaney partnership without a concrete apology to angry customers.
Outrage intensified when Bud Light executive, Alissa Heinerscheid, said the beer needed to update its “fratty” and “out of touch” branding.
Heinerscheid and her boss, Daniel Blake, Anheuser-Busch vice president of mainstream brands, have been placed on leave over the scandal.
This comes after figures last week revealed that Bud Light sales fell sharply in every region of the US following the disastrous Dylan Mulvaney partnership.
America’s flagship beer brand has been in a steep decline after using the controversial trans influencer, 26, to promote the drink.
Dates from Beer business daily showed that sales of the US number one brand are down in every region of the country.
Sales in the Rocky Mountain states fell the most, falling 29 percent, with the South Atlantic, West North Central, and East South Central all falling 25 percent.
The Tumbleweed, a cowboy bar in Wyoming, shut down Bud Light after the controversy — opting for Guinness instead.
Sales in the East North Central area — which includes Michigan and Illinois, both of which have seen backlash against the beer — fell 23.5 percent in the week ending April 22.
It comes as HSBC analysts have downgraded shares of Anheuser-Busch because it is in the middle of a “crisis” over the marketing blunder.