A lot of Anheuser-Busch (AB) distributors are accepting the fact that they have lost a significant amount of Bud Light sales. . Dylan Mulvaney Peru .They have also stopped trying to win back disappointed customers after the disastrous marketing partnership with transgender influencer Dylan Mulvaney..For the past four months, AB has faced financial problems from the partnership, leading to job cuts and a hiring freeze. .Some beer truck drivers have even faced rude comments and harassment, while Bud Light sales have decreased by more than 25%. .AB distributors now realize they have permanently lost some of their customers and need to concentrate on attracting new drinkers..“Consumers have made a choice,” said a Texas-based beer distributor executive who did not want to be identified to The New York Post. .“They have left and that’s how it’s going to be. I don’t envision a big percentage of them coming back.”.Sales of other AB beers like Budweiser, Michelob Ultra, and Busch Light have also been going down since Bud Light started its marketing partnership with transgender influencer Mulvaney..In addition, the customers who stopped buying Bud Light may have discovered that other beers like Coors Light and Miller Lite “are a very similar product.”.The executive said the beer wars are about “whoever is best at marketing.”.“There is an increasing feeling that this decline rate could last for a while and the distributors are worried about losing those drinkers to other similar brands,” David Steinmann, executive editor of Beer Marketer’s Insights, told The Post..On April 1, Mulvaney posted two pictures on social media. .In one picture, she held a can of Bud Light with her picture on it, and in another picture, she sat in a bubble bath with Bud Light cans around her. .These posts caused a negative reaction that lasted longer than expected..“The strategy of targeting younger, newer consumers is the right one,” Michael Stone, chairman of Beanstalk Group, a New York-based branding firm, told The Post. .“But Anheuser-Busch made a mistake executing on the strategy.”.There is some good news for AB distributors who have been struggling. Modelo Especial, the second most popular beer brand owned by Anheuser-Busch outside of the US, is gaining popularity..Rival Constellation Brands distributes Modelo in the US. Since May, Modelo has been outselling Bud Light every week..“What’s helping distributors is having Modelo in their portfolio,” the beer executive said. .“But if you don’t have Constellation, you are in a pickle.”.Although Bud Light is currently the top beer brand in the US, experts predict that its reign will soon end. .Modelo is expected to surpass Bud Light and become the leading beer brand by the end of August.
