Bud Light’s sales are still suffering nearly a year after its partnership with transgender influencer Dylan Mulvaney sparked a consumer backlash. A former Anheuser-Busch executive says the brand has lost 30% of its customers and billions in shareholder value.
Key Facts:
- Bud Light faced backlash in 2023 after partnering with transgender influencer Dylan Mulvaney.
- Former Anheuser-Busch executive Anson Frericks says the company has not recovered.
- Sales were down nearly 30% year-over-year as of January 2025.
- Bud Light has been overtaken in sales by Michelob Ultra and Modelo Especial.
- The brand attempted to win back customers with Super Bowl ads featuring comedian Shane Gillis and musician Post Malone.
- Frericks says Bud Light still lacks a clear identity and has failed to win back its core consumers.
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The Rest of The Story:
Bud Light’s partnership with Dylan Mulvaney in 2023 triggered a conservative-led boycott that continues to hurt the brand’s bottom line.
Sales remain down nearly 30% compared to the previous year, and the brand has lost market share to Michelob Ultra and Modelo Especial.
Despite efforts to rebrand with high-profile Super Bowl ads, Frericks argues that the company has not addressed its core issue—winning back lost customers.
He suggests that Bud Light’s attempt to appeal to both traditional beer drinkers and progressive audiences has left it without a clear identity.
Today marks 1 year since Bud Light made Dylan Mulvaney their brand ambassador
They lost 1,400,000,000 since this ad: pic.twitter.com/Jfs80GVTTd
— End Wokeness (@EndWokeness) April 1, 2024
Commentary:
Bud Light made a catastrophic mistake by trying to pander to a woke audience that was never interested in its product to begin with.
Instead of focusing on their loyal customers—blue-collar Americans who actually drink their beer—they chose to chase social media trends and virtue signal.
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Now, they’re paying the price.
There’s no real path to recovery for Bud Light.
They destroyed their own brand by putting woke politics over profits.
Customers have moved on, and no amount of slick advertising will undo the damage.
Dylan Mulvaney is lashing out at Bud Light for not "standing by" him after he cost the company billions of dollars. pic.twitter.com/NH6njaWABk
— Lauren Chen (@TheLaurenChen) June 30, 2023
The Bottom Line:
Bud Light’s sales decline demonstrates the lasting impact of corporate missteps in politically charged environments.
The brand’s struggle to regain its customer base suggests that its recovery will be difficult unless it takes a clear stance on its identity moving forward.
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