Even with Anheuser-Busch practically giving beer away for free, sales flopped the week before the July 4th holiday.
Bud Light sales shrunk by 27.9 percent the week ending June 24 when compared to the same time last year — making it the second worst sales week since controversy surrounding the brand’s partnership with trans activist Dylan Mulvaney erupted on April 1, according to Nielsen IQ data provided by Bump Williams Consulting to the New York Post.
The number of sales dropped 31.3 percent compared to the following year.
The worst week on record was the weekend of June 17 when sales plummeted 28.5 percent compared to a year ago.
“The Fourth of July is the biggest beer holiday in terms of retail sales and an opportunity to move a lot of volume,” Dave Williams, vice president of the consultancy told the New York Post. “And there have been no notable signs where the course has changed for Bud Light.”
Bud Light’s parent company even offered a rebate of up to $15 for 15 packs of Bud Light, Budweiser, Budweiser Select — making some of the beers, USA Today reported. The company played a similar move by offering rebates for beer purchases ahead of memorial day weekend.
Americans are still buying beer, as Modelo has seen an 11 percent increase in sales in the second quarter of this year. In May it claimed the title of the “King of Beers,” knocking Bud Light off its throne. Modelo controlled 8.6 percent of the market share whereas Bud Light only had control of 7.1 percent, in the four-week period ending on June 24.
Bud Light’s decision to partner with trans influencer Dylan Mulvaney led to nationwide boycotts from conservatives, and the company’s decision to not stand behind Mulvaney also garnered boycotts from the LGBTQ community and liberals.
Last week, Mulvaney made a post to Instagram cutting ties with the beer giant, Breitbart reported.
“For a company to hire a trans person and then not publicly stand by them is worse than not hiring a trans person at all because it gives customers permission to be as transphobic and hateful as they want,” Mulvaney said in an Instagram post uploaded Thursday. “It has serious and grave consequences for the rest of our community, and we’re customers too.”
Former Aheuser-Busch executive has even called for Bud Light’s parent company CEO Brendan Whitworth to resign.
“He’s been paralyzed by corporate America’s forced adoption of ‘stakeholder’ capitalism, which preaches to companies about why they must serve activists, politicians, non-governmental organizations, and all manner of interests — anyone really apart from their shareholders and customers!” Frericks wrote in an OP/ED in the DailyMail.