A boycott continues to cripple Bud Light sales in stores around the nation, with at least one retailer slashing its price for a 24-pack of Bud Light to $3.49, or approximately 14 cents per can, according to a recent report by Beer Business Daily.
Bud Light and its parent company Anheuser-Busch have experienced a sharp decline in sales since April, when transgender influencer and activist Dylan Mulvaney promoted the brand after receiving a beer can with her face on it to celebrate her one-year anniversary of transitioning to a woman.
Company boycotts have been gaining popularity across the country recently as some people say companies should focus on their products rather than social issues, with Bud Light’s marketing decision quickly backfiring in the divisive political landscape around LGBTQ+ issues. People were quick to boycott the beer brand, tanking the company’s stock price while sales for products from competitors like Miller Light and Coors Light rose.
The backlash has Anheuser-Busch offering various promotions for its products, with retailers also marking down prices to sell the unwanted beer.
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However, the most recent price of 14 cents per can of beer for a 24-pack is not the lowest price for the beer, as Bud Light offered a Memorial Day promotion of a $15 rebate for packs of 15 cans or more. In some areas, a 15-pack of Bud Light sells for less than $15, making the beer free.
Anheuser-Busch also recently offered free beer to its wholesalers to smooth over soured relationships. The company overhauled its marketing department and promised to dedicate more funds to it, but some wholesalers are still disappointed in the boycott. One wholesaler in Alabama, Steve Tatum of Bama Budweiser, took out a radio ad earlier this month to convince customers to return to his establishment as it did not support the brand’s decision to partner with Mulvaney.
“We at Bama Budweiser, an independent wholesaler, employ around 100 people who live here, work here, and our children go to school here,” Tatum said in part in his ad. “We do not, and as I said before, did not support this issue involving Dylan Mulvaney. There was one single can made. It was not for sale and wasn’t properly approved. As a result, the Bud Light brand has new leadership.”
Meanwhile, a spokesperson for Anheuser-Busch told Newsweek last month that the company “works with hundreds of influencers across our brands as one of many ways to authentically connect with audiences across various demographics,” adding that the commemorative can it had given to Mulvaney “was a gift to celebrate a personal milestone and is not for sale to the general public.”
The row over transgender brand ambassadors is symbolic of a wider debate about the inclusion of transgender women in female issues and spaces. Some say transgender women should be treated the same as other women, while others say they are different and that hard-won women’s rights must be protected.
Bud Light’s marketing mishap also has impacted LGBTQ+ influencers, with some admitting that they haven’t seen the influx of partnerships they typically do in advance of Pride month, which begins on June 1.
Many public figures have joined the boycott of Bud Light, including Representative Lauren Boebert, a Colorado Republican, musician Kid Rock, and many others.
Newsweek reached out to Anheuser-Busch by email for comment.