Bud Light, America’s No. 1 beer brand, has seen a dramatic 26.8% plunge in sales revenue in the last week, according to data from Bump Williams Consulting and NielsenIQ.
The dip in sales is believed to be linked to the backlash the company has faced after it partnered with transgender-identifying activist Dylan Mulvaney in April of this year. Other beer brands have also seen a decline in revenue, such as Budweiser (10%), Natural Light (2.3%), and Michelob Ultra (2.4%).
The news comes as Modelo Especial climbs up the ranks to become the nation’s top-selling beer in May. The Mexican beer, owned in North America by Constellation Brands, accounted for 8.4% of retail beer sales, while Bud Light managed just 7.3%. Over the same period, Modelo Especial’s sales increased by 10.2%, while Bud Light's decreased by 24.6%.
Bud Light’s financial stumble has been dramatic, leading to it losing a total of $15.7 billion in market value by the end of May. This is an all-time low for the Anheuser-Busch brand.
In an attempt to quell the brewing outrage, Anheuser-Busch CEO Brendan Whitworth released a statement on Friday, acknowledging the difficulties the company is facing.
“We recognize that over the last two months, the discussion surrounding our company and Bud Light has moved away from beer, and this has impacted our consumers, our business partners, and our employees,” the statement said. “We are a beer company, and beer is for everyone.”
In an attempt to reengage its customers, Love announced that a new advertising campaign for Bud Light will launch next week.
“You can look forward to Bud Light reinforcing what you’ve always loved about our brand — that it’s easy to drink and easy to enjoy,” he said.
Whether Bud Light can regain its lost market share amongst customers has yet to be seen. Whitworth may have the fight of his career on his hands if the brand continues to suffer from the Mulvaney controversy. Only time will tell if the beer giant will be able to recover from this setback.