Bud Light loses title of top-selling beer in US after months-long boycott: Here’s what happened

Recent figures show that Bud Light is no longer the top-selling beer in the United States, with Modelo Especial overtaking its spot as the former is facing a months-long boycott. According to a report by consulting firm Bump Williams, in the four weeks leading up to June 3, the sales of Bud Light were down by almost a quarter. 

What prompted the boycott of Bud Light?

As per reports, Bud Light’s drop in sales can be traced back to early April when 26-year-old, transgender influencer Dylan Mulvaney received a handful of beer cans out of which one was even personalised from the company. She in turn posted a video to promote an upcoming Bud Light contest on Instagram where she has some 1.8 million followers. 

The popular TikToker with nearly 11 million followers had been documenting her transition online. The video posted was less than a minute long and is said to mostly be about a $15,000 giveaway that the company sponsored during March Madness. 

During the video, Mulvaney also mentions how Bud Light sent her a tallboy can with her face on it to celebrate her first year of womanhood. It was not long after the post that calls for a boycott followed by many prominent voices, including the musician Kid Rock, who posted a video of himself shooting a stack of Bud Light cases. 

Additionally, several conservative pundits, right-wing politicians and even celebrities spoke out against the promotion with many posting videos of themselves shooting Bud Light cans. This comes as several states across the US have either proposed or passed bills which affect transgender youth and people from the LGBTQ+ community across the country.

What happened to Bud Light’s sales?

Amid the calls for a boycott since earlier this year, Bud Light’s sales slumped. Anheuser-Busch, the beer’s brewer said in early May that they would shift the focus of its marketing campaigns to sports and music. Meanwhile, Anheuser-Busch also announced that it is placing two executives who reportedly oversaw a Bud Light collaboration with a transgender activist on leave. 

According to the report by Bump Williams using the data collected by research firm Nielsen, Bud Light had managed to keep its position as America’s best-selling beer for the first five months of the year. The report also found that Bud Light’s sales were down about 24 per cent in the week ended June 3 when compared to the same week last year. 

However, it is not just Bud Light but also other Anheuser-Busch brands which have taken a hit which include Budweiser and Michelob Ultra. Meanwhile, Anheuser-Busch remained the largest brewer in the country. Wall Street Journal, citing some Bud Light distributors, on Tuesday (June 13), reported that they believe Bud Light may be permanently dethroned. 

In a bid to seemingly do some damage control, Bud Light released new ads featuring iconic American imagery including the US flag and horses galloping across open country, reported BBC. Meanwhile, Modelo Especial has taken over as the top-selling beer in the US in May, with 8.4 per cent of American beer sales by value in the period when Bud Light’s sales were declining. 

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