In my commentary yesterday about all the “Pride” events I didn’t mention Bud Light, but they were part of the story. Before I get to that, here’s the latest on their cratering sales.
Data from Bump Williams Consulting and NielsenIQ show that sales for Bud Light are down 28.5 percent year-over-year for the week ending June 17, according to the New York Post. That’s a decline of about 2 percentage points from the week ending June 10, when sales dropped 26.8 percent, Bump Williams’s data show.
Anheuser-Busch’s other brands, including Budweiser and Michelob Ultra, have also suffered year-over-year losses. Budweiser’s sales are down 12.3 percent, Busch Light is down 8.1 percent, and Michelob Ultra is down 4 percent, according to Bump Williams and Nielsen IQ.
At the same time, competitors like Yuengling Lager went up 25.1 percent, the data show. Coors Light saw a 21.8 percent increase, and Miller Lite went up 16 percent.
And for the month of May, Constellation Brands-owned Modelo Especial was the number one-selling brand in the United States, outpacing Bud Light, which fell to number two, industry data show.
Bump Williams, chief of the eponymous consulting company, told the New York Post on June 21, “This was a tough week for Bud Light and other beer brands” that are owned by Anheuser-Busch, including Budweiser. Sales of Budweiser were down by 10 percent, Natural Light was down by 2.3 percent, and Michelob Ultra was down by 2.4 percent.
Any hope that the consumer backlash would ease up after a spike of disgust has rapidly vanished. 24 percent of Bud Light’s buyers “no longer purchase the brand.”
“We believe recent underperformance implies a permanent reduction in ABI’s U.S. business,” Deutsche Bank analyst Mitch Collett wrote for Barron’s. “Our proprietary survey data suggests these headwinds are likely to fade even if we do not expect the U.S. business ever to fully recover from its current challenges.”
Collett also upgraded shares of AB InBev to “buy” from “hold,” increasing the price target to $65.92 from $64.83, according to the report. Data gathered by Deutsche Bank suggest that 24 percent of Bud Light’s consumers no longer purchase the brand. Another 18 percent are buying less, he said.
[…]
Another analyst said Bud Light could see tough times ahead. Evercore’s Robert Ottenstein said Bud Light will “permanently lose” between 15 and 20 percent of its volume. After that, “declines will resume at about the average rate of the prior 10 years,” he said.
Buy low, sell high.
Has the “fratty” and “out of touch humor” been sufficiently updated yet, Bud?
Apparently.
However, some social media users this week noticed Bud Light is an official sponsor of the Pride Toronto Parade, which promotes the LGBT lifestyle, and will “feature them on our can design.”
“Bud Light Canada has been a proud partner of Pride Toronto for the last 10 years. This year, we’re commemorating this milestone with Pride Toronto by featuring them on our can design, as well as continuing as the official beer sponsor of the festival,” Bud Light’s Canadian website says. “As a brand, Bud Light Canada is excited to once again celebrate and support the LGBTQIA2S+ community through Pride Toronto’s annual pride celebration and parade.”
Is this double down on stupid? Bud Light can’t NOT know that their consumer base has fled and most likely won’t be replaced, precisely because they associated themselves with a trans-influencer, part of the ever-expanding alphabet mafia. They have refused to apologize or even fire anyone involved in that disastrous marketing decision. (Bud Light Marketing Vice President Alissa Heinerscheid and Group Vice President of Marketing Daniel Blake are still on “leave” and Anheuser-Busch denies reports that they were fired.)
Here’s what was on Bud Light’s stage at the Toronto festivities. (Content warning if you click the link.)
They deserve to be not just be boycotted, but abandoned. Leave them to the minority of sexual obsessives’ dollars. That’s who they pander to, so leave them.
They are blind guides.