USA: Bud Light sales still down year over year

Anheuser-Busch InBev's beleaguered Bud Light brand is still having trouble luring back the customers it lost following its controversial partnership with transgender activist Dylan Mulvaney last year, Fox Business reported on January 31.

Bud Light sales were down 29.9% year over year for the week ending Jan. 20, 2024 compared with the same period last year, according to the latest numbers provided to FOX Business by Bump Williams Consulting, which analyzed Neilsen IQ data.

Sales of A-B's signature Budweiser brand were also down 15% on an annualized basis for the week, while competitors saw growth.

Molson-Coors' Coors Light saw 12.2% sales growth, while Miller Lite sales rose 6.9%, and Yuengling Light soared by 72.3%.

Modelo Especial, the Mexican lager owned by Constellation Brands, also gained further ground against Bud Light, seeing a 10.8% sales boost on the week compared with the same time in 2023, when Modelo eclipsed the A-B brand to become the best-selling beer in the U.S.

Sales of Bud Light began to tumble in the U.S. in April of last year, not long after the brand created and sent custom beer cans to Mulvaney to mark her "365 days of girlhood."

That move and comments from Bud Light's marketing vice president at the time, Alissa Heinerscheid – who said she wanted to update the "fratty" and "out of touch" brand – sparked calls from conservative influencers and celebrities to shun the brand, and a boycott took hold.

AB InBev has since worked to rehabilitate the brand's image, with limited success.

In recent months, the company has announced new partnerships with UFC and the Olympics, and is planning a set of Super Bowl LVIII ads focused on patriotism and humor.

31 January, 2024