Bud Light has suffered its biggest weekly drop in sales since the country’s #1 beer brand began an ill-fated marketing partnership with transgender influencer Dylan Mulvaney.
According to the latest data from Bump Williams Consulting and NielsenIQ, in the week ending June 10, Bud Light sales fell by as much as 26.8%.
That’s more than the 24.4% drop recorded the previous week – and surpassed the previous worst drop of 25.7% in the week ending May 20 – since the beer giant went to bed with Mulvaney on April 1.
Other Anheuser-Busch brands also took a step back in the week ending June 10, according to the data. Budweiser sales were down 10% from a 7.8% drop the previous week, while Natural Light sales were down 2.3% from a 1% drop. Michelob Ultra – the number 3 beer in the country – fell by 2.4%.
“It’s been a tough week for Bud Light and other Anheuser-Busch-owned beer brands,” said Bump Williams, head of the eponymous consulting firm.
Calls for boycotts from conservative corners of the country over the Mulvaney campaign have cost the Belgian brewing company more than $20 billion.
The #2 beer in the country, Modelo Especial, saw an increase of 5.7% last week compared to the previous year.
The previous week saw an increase of 12.2% over the previous year.
Despite this, Bud Light remains the #1 beer brand and has a “several hundred million dollar advantage” over Modelo Especial on an annualized basis, Williams said.
The data shows that Modelo has been surpassing its rival on a weekly basis since May, but for Bud Light to lose its spot, it would require Modelo to continue its declines and its rises to continue until the end of the year.
Williams predicts the “unlikely” Modelo to become the No. 1 brand in America within 52 weeks.
“In some cases, trends for a particular brand may be healthy in some local areas across the country and worse in others,” Williams explained.
Although what started as opposition to Bud Light and its sister brands in mostly red states has turned into blue states, beer experts have noted.