Bud Light's parent company loses $390M after Dylan Mulvaney ad controversy

By bellecarter // 2023-08-07

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Bud Light's parent company AB InBev is beginning to feel the results of the "woke" marketing fiasco it recently dealt with. In its second-quarter earnings report, AB InBev reported a 10.5 percent drop in revenue for its U.S. market and a 28.2 percent drop in core profit. Overall, it lost approximately $390 million last year. The beer giant mainly blamed its loss in core profit – which accounts for earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization – on "the volume decline of Bud Light as well as "increased sales and marketing investments." Worse, it was dethroned as most popular beer in America by Mexican competitor Modelo in June. The company did not mention the costly "boycott backlash" in the report. The company has lost $40 billion in value since Bud Light teamed up with transgender TikTok influencer Dylan Mulvaney in April. The campaign caused celebrities like Kid Rock and country star Travis Tritt to speak out against the iconic brand. Since the controversy, Bud Light and parent company Anheuser-Busch executives pledged in a closed-door meeting to "spend heavily on the brand after spending fell off a cliff last year," the Post Millenial wrote. Also, the company's Vice President of Marketing Allisa Heinerscheid reportedly went on a leave of absence starting April 30 after a video surfaced of her interview with the "Make Yourself at Home" podcast, where she said that the brand should distance itself from its "fratty" reputation and promote inclusivity – or go out of business. Meanwhile, the ad agency that chose to use Mulvaney was dropped by Bud Light in May. In a letter to distributors Anheuser-Busch's CEO Brendan Whitworth claimed that the influencer was not part of a partnership and said, "We need to clarify the fact that this was one can, one influencer, one post, and not a campaign." The parent company also recently announced that it laid off hundreds of workers. According to the Wall Street Journal, Whitworth said the brand did not make the decision to cut staff "lightly" but was prioritizing its "future long-term success." He clarified the layoffs included corporate and marketing roles at U.S. offices in St. Louis, New York and Los Angeles. It did not impact the brewery and warehouse staff, the company said. (Related: Mulvaney campaign blowback: Bud Light maker AB InBev AXES hundreds of workers.) The recently released report instead pointed analysts to its own survey that showed "most consumers are favorable toward the Bud Light brand and approximately 80 percent are favorable or neutral." The survey engaged over 170,000 consumers and was conducted across the U.S. during the three-month period that ended June 30. This was during the time when outrage began after Mulvaney featured a custom can of the light lager.

Bud Light tries to move past the controversy but is failing miserably

Trying to regain its balance after the disastrous fiasco, Bud Light has released new ads that boast all-American themes like country music and sports. Last month, the company's X account posted: "Let's goooooo" to show support for the U.S. Women's National Soccer Team. "Women's? Or just whoever says they are women?" one user replied. Another commented: "Don't drag them down with you!" It also released a 15-second ad spot on YouTube ahead of July 4 starring Kansas City Chiefs' Super Bowl-winning star Travis Kelce but this PR effort still didn't save sales from tanking during America's biggest beer-drinking holiday. Advertising industry executive Tim Cramer, owner of Mosaic Advertising, said this is an example of why consumers are tired of politics and "wokeness" being pushed on them by companies. "We're seeing one of the first casualties of the new economy, the "Bidenomics," diversity and equity and inclusion. We call them the deadheads, D-E-D, diversity equity, we drop off the inclusion, but we call them deadheads because everything that they touch, Trump says it best, I think … it turns to crap. And that's what we're seeing here, he said during a recent appearance on "Fox & Friends," adding that it cost Anheuser-Busch, it cost InBev $27 billion in market cap and a $400 million loss in real revenue to realize that people just want to drink their beer without a debate. "And they do not want to have a message shoved down their throat," he pointed out. "The way that they can speak is if they can't go to the streets and rant and rave in the streets, then they'll do it with their pocketbook. They will do it with their wallets. And that's exactly what they've done here." Visit WokeMob.news for more stories about big companies supporting wokeism. Watch the video below that talks about Bud Light's terrible losses following the woke marketing campaign controversy. This video is from the Red Voice Media channel on Brighteon.com.

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Bud Light tries to move past the controversy but is failing miserably

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