Posted on 08/31/2024 8:17:48 AM PDT by DallasBiff
When conservative activists set aflame boxes of Bud Light and urged a boycott in response to an endorsement from a trans influencer last spring, they sent sales of the beer plummeting in a rare success in the long history of consumer movements.
Even more improbably, the backlash continues to hammer Bud Light and strain independent local wholesalers more than a year later, according to third-party sales data shared with ABC News as well as interviews with six Anheuser-Busch wholesalers.
Most of the wholesalers, small- and medium-sized businesses that draw a significant portion of their revenue from Bud Light, said they remain weakened by the decline in sales and uncertain about when, if ever, the brand will fully recover.
Most of the wholesalers, small- and medium-sized businesses that draw a significant portion of their revenue from Bud Light, said they remain weakened by the decline in sales and uncertain about when, if ever, the brand will fully recover.
The owner of an Anheuser-Busch wholesaler in the Northeast, whose child is trans, told ABC News they have taken a 30% pay cut to make up for the losses and are considering retirement
(Excerpt) Read more at abcnews.go.com ...
This will be a case study in conservative business schools for years to come.
Grind them into the dirt.
Bud has not apologized to their employees or the American people.
This debacle was about more than just DEI and trannies.
It was about an arrogant and incompetent management that loathed and disrespected its customer base so much they wanted to shift the brand to a new, hip and inclusive customer base.
The customers caught on and then moved on
No they never apologized as such.
I think they had released a statement indicating that they just gave a can of beer to that transgender guy and it was not an official ad campaign.
But the damage was done by the popular perception that it was indeed an official ad campaign and pushing all this transgender business.
Instead they doubled-down. So we should too.
Force AB to retire the brand. That would be a win.
Wrong....conservatives didn’t set anything on flame. Bud set themselves on fire by engaging in this stupid nonsense.
You are right. And Kaiser Bush never did apologize nor fire anyone involved in insulting their customer base - men. That they haven’t done so yet means AB still hates their customers.
I’ve got an idea. How about you just focus on selling your products instead of pushing politics - especially when its politics that many of your customers do not agree with?
Anheuser Busch, not Kaiser Bush
“The owner of an Anheuser-Busch wholesaler in the Northeast, whose child is trans, told ABC News they have taken a 30% pay cut to make up for the losses and are considering retirement.
“It was really hurtful personally,” the owner said. “I’m trying to understand what my kid is going through and then this happens.”
“It’s still very upsetting,”... “
Message to that owner:
As a former Bud Light drinker, I don’t want your personal problem to be mine.
Time to kick-up a reminder about their attack on customers.
There is not a single good reason this brand should stay in business. Any people losing jobs can switch to another company selling alcohol.
I suspect it will also be a study in corporate cowardice. The majority of the board had to know that putting a tranny on a beer can was a terrible idea.
But everyone was afraid to speak up, and risk being called a hater. End result? Millions of dollars in lost revenue.
I work in retail wine and spirits sales and Mexican import beer Modelo is flying off our shelves. Bud Lite was not a huge part of our market, but I have definitely seen a dip in sales of Bud Lite. With Modelo being number one in sales nationally, I see a shift in the market tastes and consumers are ditching the cheap watery style of beer for a better made product. Anheiser Busch would be better to dump the Bud Lite product and develop a new better tasting beer to rival Modelo.
With any luck, Bud Light will fade away. It should become an MBA school case study in what happens when you vocally hate your customers.
Another factor might be that people have switched to better tasting brews, and have come to realize that BL is undrinkable swill.
Just keep in mind, this is not the old Anhouser Busch. that company no longer exists. This is Imbev, an international conglomerate run by Dutch and Brazilian executives. The old Busch family of St. Louis has no part in it any more. They were forced out.
Offending your customer base isn’t a good marketing strategy.
That had nothing to do with the issues at hand. The fact his kid is trans has nothing to do with the fact Bud Light collapsed because of a bad marketing decision involving Dylan Mulvany, who is now a has been and has faded away. Hope it took the money and invested wisely.
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