Posted on 04/26/2023 8:25:23 AM PDT by Morgana
Bud Light pours plummeted in the first half of April at thousands of bars and restaurants, according to BeerBoard, a tech company that helps barrooms nationwide monitor their beer flows.
Why it matters: Conservative groups and country music stars have called for a boycott of the light lager since Dylan Mulvaney, a transgender advocate and TikTok star, announced on April 1 that Bud Light had sent her personalized cans to celebrate her one-year anniversary living as a trans woman.
The initial data from BeerBoard — which counts Buffalo Wild Wings, TGI Fridays and Hooters as customers — is just a snapshot. But the decline in Bud Light pours indicates that some consumers are souring on the beer in the wake of a controversy that has laid bare the country's divisions over transgender rights.
Zoom in: Servers across nearly 3,000 locations using BeerBoard's network poured about 6% less Bud Light than other light lagers from April 2 to April 15, after the calls for a boycott.
The brand had outperformed its category by 15% in the previous two weeks March 18 to April 1. Other data — from NielsenIQ and Bump Williams Consulting — have Bud Light sales down 21% in volume in the week that ended April 15, after an 11% drop the previous week, according to the New York Post.
State of play: Anheuser-Busch, the parent company of Bud Light, announced last weekend that the two executives who oversaw the beer's collaboration with Mulvaney had been put on leave involuntarily, the Wall Street Journal reported.
That move came after the company’s CEO, Brendan Whitworth, issued a statement on April 14 that generally acknowledged the controversy, but didn’t delve into specifics. “We never intended to be part of a discussion that divides people,” he said. “We are in the business of bringing people together over a beer.”
Between the lines: Whitworth's delayed and broad response to the controversy suggests the company isn't "willing to take a stand on the issue," Kellie A. McElhaney, professor of leadership at UC Berkeley's Haas School of Business, tells Axios.
A spokesperson for Anheuser-Busch did not respond to Axios' request for comment.
Anheuser-Busch previously told NBC News in a statement that it "works with hundreds of influencers ... to authentically connect with audiences across various demographics.”
The big picture: There are real business risks to weighing in on cultural, social and political issues in the U.S.
Anheuser-Busch previously has released bespoke branding to celebrate and appeal to the LGBTQ community, but it wasn't prepared to respond to the social media uprising and boycotts that followed the Mulvaney partnership.
What to watch: Brands including Nike and Dick's Sporting Goods have rebounded from initial backlash to stances they've taken in the past, and it's likely Bud Light will as well, McElhaney says.
"Negativity spurs action more than positivity, so ... it's incumbent on all of us [consumers] to utilize our purchasing power, not just when you're angry, but when you're really proud, or happy."
Zoom out: Boycott aside, Americans — specifically millennials and Gen Z — are drinking less.
I don’t blame them!
Its true significance is right up there with The Boston Tea Party. Just funnier. Just as important.
Solution: Do like me and all my buddies lately........drink Pabst Blue Ribbon!
Who wants to look like a girlie man?
“laid bare the country’s divisions over transgender rights.”
What division?
Every billionaire is pushing top down cram down perversity.
I cant even imagine how the sheep are reacting to this in the bar scenes... Some probably have no clue as to why they're being scoffed at for holding a BL bottle...
Experts say that’s not true and it’s propaganda. Now, these paid for “experts” wouldn’t lie to us, would they?
Online moderators would censor someone calling another gay but they would have trouble censoring "You drink Bud Light."
YES!!!!
Our golf league is banning golfers from bringing bud light now :)
A boycott is intended to get a change of some sort from a company whose product is being boycotted. In my case I don’t boycott I stop using the product and never go back. I haven’t read a newspaper in 10 years. I haven’t watched a football game in over 5 years. I don’t have cable and I don’t watch cable news not even Fox. I use Apple Maps instead of Googling and I watch Apple TV instead of Netflix. I don’t have Disney streaming. I don’t drink Bud Light anyway or I would quit drinking it and never go back. I have ordered a Stella before but never again.
Boycotts don’t work because you can’t get enough people to join and like all fads they fade. I would bet they would last a couple of weeks at most before breaking down as people go back to their selfish ways. The left use boycotts as weapons and are mostly successful because they are loud and shrill and producers fear bad publicity and loss of market. Left also are good at ridiculing conservatives for having boycotts. Don’t play their game. Give it up and never go back and don’t make a big deal of it and you will get better results.
> Who wants to look like a girlie man? <
I spend a bit of time at my local bar, sipping ginger ale. (I won’t have even one drink if I’m driving).
Anyway, yeah. You’re right. Most patrons are not only avoiding Bud, they’re gently mocking those who do order it.
The guy who brought bud light to our golf league got mocked so bad I'm sure he won't do it again :)
I think people are getting tired of having twisted little fetishes shoved in our faces, accompanied by demands that we accept them as normal.
“What to watch: Brands including Nike and Dick’s Sporting Goods have rebounded from initial backlash to stances they’ve taken in the past, and it’s likely Bud Light will as well, McElhaney says.”
Sadly, that’s true.
Bud Light forever ‘Queer Beer’
it is a pushback on tyranny
a tyranny that has an unnatural interest in our children
Yeah, and Fox News firing Tucker Carlson will have consequences as well.
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