Bud Light's Disastrous Year

As billions of people across the globe look forward to the dawning of a new year, few entities will be as happy to say goodbye to 2023 as Anheuser-Busch InBev, the parent company of beleaguered beer brand Bud Light.

Over the past several months, Bud Light has seen itself unceremoniously dethroned as America's best-selling beer and relegated to the undesirable position of a symbol of one of the nation's most prominent culture wars of the past year.

Once proudly held aloft by sports fans across the U.S., bottles of the beverage were suddenly shunned in favor of any other beer. People filmed themselves tipping the contents of Bud Light bottles and cans down drains. Some gleefully shared photos of deeply discounted—though still unsold—packs of Bud Light.

For those who can recall, this all stemmed from Bud Light partnering with transgender social media influencer Dylan Mulvaney for a small campaign. The company gifted Mulvaney personalized, not-for-sale cans of beer with her face on them to commemorate 365 days of her living as a woman. Mulvaney's Days of Girlhood video series, which charted her first year of transitioning, was a viral success.

After Mulvaney shared a video with the product on April 1, the condemnation came thick and fast from a number of conservative figures, including Texas Rep. Dan Crenshaw, with many issuing calls for a boycott of Bud Light. Musician Kid Rock reacted by sharing footage of himself opening fire on a stack of Bud Light cans, a move that was emulated by model Bri Teresi.

Country singer Travis Tritt banned Bud Light from his tour bus, while conservative political commentator Ben Shapiro said: "Our culture has now decided men are women and women are men and you must be forced to consume products that say so."

Shortly after the criticism, a spokesperson for Bud Light told Newsweek in a statement that the company "works with hundreds of influencers across our brands as one of many ways to authentically connect with audiences across various demographics." In essence, Bud Light had done nothing out of the ordinary.

The furor reflected the anti-transgender sentiment that has been growing across the United States, with bills targeting the rights of transgender people being embraced by Republican governors and statehouses across the country.

Newsweek has asked AB Inbev for comment via email.

Plummeting Stock

While social media has long been a space for expressed outrage—with minimal ripples seen away from such platforms—the rejection of Bud Light and its sister products was all too real. And enduring.

Between March 31 and May 31, the stock price of Anheuser-Busch InBev fell from $66.39 to $53.20, a drop of 20 percent. Mexico's Modelo also quickly replaced Bud Light as America's best-selling beer.

And then along came an unusually contentious Pride Month. As cities across the globe marked the occasion with celebratory gatherings throughout June, Bud Light's sponsorship of Toronto Pride had detractors up in arms. In viral video footage, an act was seen performing on a Bud Light stage featuring what seemed to be drag queens and scantily clad dancers sporting leather and fishnet clothing.

The sheer sight of Bud Light backing the LGBTQ+ event was seen as an act of defiance by those who felt wronged by the brand collaborating with Mulvaney.

A knock-on effect saw a host of other large brands targeted, too, as they took part in Pride Month (in a move no different from previous years).

Even the mere presence of Bud Light logos caught in the background of one of former President Donald Trump's rallies in Erie, Pennsylvania became cause for concern back in July. Photos from the rally showed a Bud Light logo on the arena's jumbotron, prompting outrage from some of Trump's conservative-leaning critics.

Criticism particularly stemmed from those who are supporting Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, who has made his embrace of right-wing culture war issues a cornerstone of his presidential campaign.

DeSantis threatened in July to sue Anheuser-Busch InBev, claiming that its floundering sales damaged Florida's pension fund. In a letter to the company, DeSantis wrote that the company had "breached legal duties owed to its shareholders and pursing a "social agenda at the expense of hardworking people." Critics, however, accused the governor of retaliation over the Mulvaney partnership.

While many accused 2024 GOP presidential frontrunner Trump of being sponsored by the beer brand at his Pennsylvania rally, the logo on the jumbotron appeared to be a more permanent fixture rather than a sponsor of the former president.

Amid the criticism of Bud Light over the Mulvaney partnership, Trump, who has previously criticized conservatives for overusing the word "woke," was not quite as vocal.

Some conservatives have been critical about Trump owning millions of dollars of company stock. Trump's most recent 101-page disclosures form, filed with the Federal Election Commission (FEC) and shared by The New York Times in April, shows that he owns between $1 million and $5 million in Anheuser Busch InBev stock.

Still, the former president took aim at the beverage company in a May Truth Social post.

"It's time to beat the Radical Left at their own game. Money does talk—Anheuser-Busch now understands that," he wrote at the time.

Former Executive Speaks Out

In July, former Anheuser-Busch executive Anson Frericks told Newsweek why Bud Light had faced such a devastating and enduring boycott.

"Anheuser-Busch did not understand their customer base and kind of also where their customer base is, in terms of what messaging they want to see from Bud Light," said Frericks, a former president of operations for Anheuser-Busch.

Frericks added that boycotts "typically work when there are...easily accessible products, similar to another company. So, beer is one of the more monetized products out there, the only thing that differentiates Bud Light, Coors Light, and Miller Lite, is the brand. Everywhere you have Bud Light, you also have Miller Lite and Coors Light...it's incredibly easy for consumers to switch. There's no real switching cost that's out there."

When comparing the Bud Light boycott to others, Frericks shared the example of when people called for boycotts of the NFL as players kneeled during the national anthem. Unlike beer, "there's no other alternative to the NFL," Frericks explained.

"Secondarily, consumers feel that they will keep the boycott going when they feel like they're having an impact," Frericks said. "So every single week, this news cycle continues to kick off where you're seeing the effects of this boycott, with sales being down 25 percent, 28 percent, 30 percent, every single week. So, therefore it gives consumers the ability to say like, 'Wow, I'm really having an impact.'"

Continuing Backlash

Six months after the Bud Light controversy kicked off, Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce learned that the boycott embers continued to burn when he appeared in a campaign for the brand in October.

Kelce featured in a promotion for the Bud Light sweepstakes, in which he sported a diamond chain and bespoke beer can pendant. Bud Light shared the video of Kelce holding the chain up and smiling toward the camera, but some conservatives weren't happy with him, expressing their distaste for the move online.

While Kelce, who is dating pop star Taylor Swift, became a target of criticism, it wasn't his first time of working with a post-boycott Bud Light, as he had also appeared in a campaign for the brand back in July.

Fast-forward to December things have shown little sign of letting up. A campaign featuring NFL legend Peyton Manning and Pro Football Hall of Famer Emmitt Smith for Bud Light's Super Bowl ticket competition also sparked outrage.

In Bud Light's new ad, bar patrons watch Manning as he orders at a crowded bar. He announces a round of Bud Lights is on him for the entire bar and in his trademark style, starts passing cans of Bud Light to the people with deep throws, Hail Marys and perfect spirals, without spilling a single drop. As a fan makes a diving catch, Smith appears in the crowd to call the touchdown, and joins Manning in passing out more beers to the crowd.

Unsurprisingly, outrage briefly filled timelines on X, formerly Twitter, in reaction to the ad.

The outrage appeared to continue working outside of the internet. At the end of October, it was revealed that Anheuser-Busch InBev had recorded a 14 percent revenue fall in the United States from July to September.

Anheuser-Busch's third quarter figures showed a 14 percent decline in U.S. revenue, along with a 17 percent fall in sales to American retailers, similar to the figures it recorded for the second quarter between April and June.

The poor U.S. figures contrasted with Anheuser-Busch's global performance, which saw its revenue increase by 5 percent, compared to the same period in 2022. However, this was partly the result of high inflation in Argentina driving up prices in the country.

While it is unclear what proportion of the decline in Anheuser-Busch revenue was due to Bud Light, data from NielsenIQ, which tracks consumer spending, showed Bud Light sales in off-premise locations in the U.S. had fallen by 15.9 percent in the year to August 19. By contrast, off-premise sales of Modelo increased by 10.3 percent over the same period. This gave Modelo an 8.4 percent share of the U.S. beer market, overtaking the traditionally dominant Bud Light, which had an 8.2 percent share.

Change of Heart

While it would seem that Bud Light is stuck in a cycle it may never be able to escape, it's worth noting that Kid Rock, who had been one of the brand's most vocal critics at the start of the backlash, has now significantly softened his stance.

During an appearance on Fox News on November 16, the musician declared that he "didn't want to be in the party of cancel cultures and boycotts that ultimately hurt working-class people."

"I know people that work there and it's not so cool to be wearing around that blue shirt anymore, going places," Rock told TV personality Sean Hannity. "This is why they have a problem right now, it's like, I can let the thing go."

Describing himself as a "conservative" and a "patriot," the musician said he'd given the issue a lot of thought since calling for Bud Light's cancellation earlier this year.

"As a God-fearing man, as a Christian, I have to believe in forgiveness," he continued. "They made a mistake, all right. What do you want, hold their head under water and drown them and kill people's jobs? I don't want to do that.

"But I hope—at the same time, I don't want to be their biggest cheerleader. I want them to show me something to get me back as a consumer, as a drinker."

In what would not have been considered a bold business move pre-Mulvaney, it was announced in October that Bud Light would be returning as the official beer of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC).

As part of the partnership, Bud Light will become the official UFC beer in the U.S., and Anheuser-Busch will become the sole "Official Beer Partner of UFC" starting on January 1. A source told CNBC the deal is the largest in the mixed martial arts organization's history and is "well into nine figures." Bud Light will replace Modelo as the official beer.

While a number of disgruntled UFC fans threatened to cancel their subscriptions, the organization's president and CEO Dana White defended the partnership.

"They were the first beer company that we really did business with," White told Fox News host Sean Hannity of Bud Light. "They were our first real big sponsor when we were getting started, and now we're back with them."

"Going into this deal, I know all the controversy and everything else, but for myself going into a long-term deal with another sponsor, I want to be [with] somebody that I'm actually aligned with," he continued. "I know people were upset with what they did, but I'm looking at all the good things that they do."

Listing those factors, White added: "They employ 65,000 Americans. They have thousands of vets that work for them. They spend $700 million a year with U.S. farmers, using their crops to make their products and many, many other great things that Anheuser-Busch has done in this country. And those are the things that I'm focused on.

"When I look at a long-term sponsor—we're gonna do a 6-year deal here—I want to be with somebody that I'm aligned with. All those things that I've just mentioned to you are what I'm all about."

Could this mark a turning tide for Bud Light? Time will tell. But the high-profile re-embracing of Bud Light could well bring an end to the perpetual scorning of the brand and lower the voices of its seemingly tireless detractors.

Joe Rogan, who never supported the boycott, criticized the backlash during an August 1 episode of his popular podcast, when he announced on his show that he was "drinking Bud Lights, ladies and gentleman. Sorry. There's nothing wrong with it."

"People are so silly," Rogan continued. "We were just talking about silliness. One person made a really stupid decision, and now everybody's decided that Bud Light is the enemy. But that's like this thing that people do in America, where they just decide, 'Now I hate these people. These people are the enemy.'"

Rogan added that "the culture war in this country is so goofy. It's so overblown and a lot of it is just people not talking to each other. It's people talking through social media and talking through narratives."

Mulvaney, who was at the center of this particular culture war, broke her silence on the Bud Light furor in a video shared on Instagram on April 28.

"What I'm struggling to understand is the need to dehumanize and to be cruel," she told her followers, as she discussed how she was personally affected. "I don't think that's right. You know, dehumanization has never fixed anything in history ever."

"I'm embarrassed to even tell you this, but I was nervous that you were going to start believing those things that they were saying about me, since it is so loud," she added. "But I'm just gonna go ahead and trust that the people who know me and my heart won't listen to that noise."