Bud Light’s steep decline in sales has worsened for a sixth straight week, down nearly 25% since the ill-fated promotion with transgender influencer Dylan Mulvaney, in response to the latest industry data.
In response to research by Bump Williams Consulting and Nielson IQ, sales of the No. 1 beer in the US fell 24.6% in the week ended May 13 in comparison with a yr ago – barely worse than the 23.6% decline the week before.
Much more worrying, in response to industry experts, is the negative impact on other Anheuser-Busch InBev brands, including Budweiser, Michelob Ultra – the latter being the #3 beer in the country last yr with over $3.3 billion in sales last yr .
Sales of Michelob Ultra fell 2.9% year-on-year last week, in line with the decline the week before, in response to an evaluation of Nielsen IQ data by Bump Williams. Sales of Budweiser, last yr’s number 7 beer with greater than $1.8 billion in sales, fell 9.7% in each of the last two weeks.
“Bud Light is sick,” Bump Williams, founding father of the consulting firm, said of the US’s best-selling beer, which grossed $4.8 billion last yr. “Now it has infected other healthy brands in InBev’s portfolio, and that is a much bigger problem in my opinion.”
![Budweiser, Bud Light and Miller Lite beer on display](https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/05/NYPICHPDPICT000009490511-2.jpg?w=1024)
Busch Light sales are down 6.8% in comparison with a 0.3% decline in the previous week, while Anheuser-Busch’s Natural Light sales are down 2.8% in the week ending May 13 in comparison with a 2.5% decline in last week.
Meanwhile, competitors from Anheuser-Busch have market share, with Coors Light up 23.2% in the week ending May 13 in comparison with a 22.2% increase in the previous week. Sales of Modelo Especial – the second hottest beer brand in the US with sales of over $3.7 billion last yr – rose 10% last week in comparison with a 5% increase in the previous week.
Bud Light has lost $110 million in sales volume since the starting of the yr in comparison with the same period last yr. Cases of Bud Light sold fell 28.4% in the week ending May 13 in comparison with a yr ago, in comparison with a 27.7% drop in the previous week.
![Dylan Mulvaney in a bubble bath](https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/05/NYPICHPDPICT000009575103-1.jpg?w=594)
The timing couldn’t have been worse for the Belgian conglomerate. Beer is in biggest demand during the summer months, with the key drinking season starting on Memorial Day weekend.
“If Bud Light doesn’t stop the bleeding now, [it] risks losing a whole three months of high beer demand,” Williams said.
Anheuser-Busch’s 385 distributors are in the biggest pain, pleading with consumers and businesses alike to look beyond the Mulvaney flap and understand how the backlash is hurting local businesses.
Anheuser-Busch admitted this and pledged to purchase back unsold cases of expired Bud Light.
The general public relations disaster began on April 1 when Mulvaney received a commemorative Bud Light can along with her image on it to honor her femininity anniversary. Mulvaney posted videos of herself in a bubble bath surrounded by cans of Bud Light on her social media and boasted a can along with her image on it – response and boycotts began almost immediately.