A year after Bud Light teamed up with transgender influencer Dylan Mulvaney for a partnership that led to a highly effective boycott of the brand, the Anheuser-Busch company is at risk of losing 18% of its grocery store shelf space.
Bud Light hit with crushing blow
The New York Post reported that Bud Light is set to be eliminated as store managers reorganize the alcoholic beverage section to give more valuable space to beers that sell best.
“Anheuser-Busch beers will lose 10% to 15% of their space nationwide as the reset begins,” said Jesse Ferber, chief strategy officer for Columbia Distributing, which works with retailers like Walmart and Target in the Pacific Northwest. Bloomberg News.
Ferber went on to say that while final numbers won’t be known for a month or two, he believes stores across the U.S. could reduce Bud Light shelf space by up to 18%, though he added that in other areas it could be up to 5%.
By contrast, Molson Coors Brewing Co, whose stable of brands includes Coors Light, Miller Lite and Coors Banquet, will likely receive a shelf space increase of more than 10%. Company president Brian Feiro boasted that more than 50 retailers increased shelf space on Coors Light and Miller Lite by 6% to 7% last summer and fall.
An Anheuser-Busch spokesperson sought to downplay concerns about Bud Light, admitting that the company expects “small changes across brands” when it comes to shelf space. This spokesperson added that Bud Light and Michelob Ultra, another Anheuser-Busch beer, are “the two major brands with the largest share of space in the beer industry.”
This came a year after conservatives launched a boycott of Bud Light over its partnership with Mulvaney that included the company offering the transgender influencer a special can to celebrate “365 Days of Girlhood.” Anheuser-Busch lost about $1 billion in sales due to the boycott, and the company’s most recent earnings report showed its U.S. revenue fell 17.3 percent in the fourth quarter and 9.5 percent. % for the entire year.
Anson Frericks, former president of operations at Bud Light’s parent company Anheuser-Busch, told Fox Business in February that the brand is having trouble winning back consumers because Anheuser-Busch hasn’t asked customers to “come back to them.”
“They haven’t done a good job of getting out of this ditch at all,” Frericks said. “Sales continue to decline 30% week over week, despite spending three times their planned marketing budget on Bud Light last summer.”
Watch him talk more about this in the video below.
Related: Dylan Mulvaney attacks Bud Light after shooting down ad featuring transgender influencer
Mulvaney turns on the bud light
Mulvaney also attacked Bud Light and began speaking out against the brand.
“I think about it [Bud Light] a bit like a parent, where the parent doesn’t put a stop to something, the bullying can continue,” Mulvaney said last month, according to the Daily Mail. “These brands need to step up.”
Bud Light learned the hard way that teaming up with someone like Mulvaney to please the left is never a good idea. Eventually, other brands should take note, otherwise they may find themselves in the same sinking boat as Bud Light!
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