Beer giant Anheuser-Busch continues to have trouble finding its way out of a PR predicament that has cost the company serious revenue the last two months.
The debacle over partnering its Bud Light brand with transgender social media influencer Dylan Mulvaney continues to result in a sales downturn to the tune of a 29.5% decline in year-over-year sales for the week ending May 20, according to Newsweek.
The company is in the unique and unenviable position of receiving criticism from both sides of the political spectrum, with conservatives fueling the boycott and accusing Anheuser-Busch of alienating its regular customers with the promotion and LGBTQ+ advocates saying the company has defended the Mulvaney partnership vigorously enough.
It’s a perfect storm of negativity for the brand, which reported a 24.3% year-over-year sales decline for the four-week period ending May 20. The previous four weeks that ended April 29 had already declined 17.2%, according to Newsweek.
And while beer revenue as a whole is down 9% from last year according to numbers from Nielsen IQ for the 52 weeks up to April 23, the other major brands seem to be weathering it by absorbing the customers who are shunning Bud Light.
Miller Lite has seen a 20.7% increase year-over-year for the four weeks ending May 20 (despite dealing with their own boycott controversy over a Women’s History Month ad campaign). And Coors Light is up 22% in the same period.
The controversy “does appear to be plateauing,” Bump Williams Consulting vice president of analytics and insights Dave Williams told Newsweek, but as numbers continue to get compared to last summer’s robust beer sales, “The absolute magnitude [of the boycott’s effects] could still creep up.”
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