by Frank Holmes, reporter
After they pause to remember the fallen heroes of America’s wars, 70 percent of Americans plan to have a cookout, but there’s one thing you probably won’t find on their picnic table: Bud Light.
Americans love to open a frosty beer, but ever since the beer’s decision to hire a transgender man as its spokesperson, Bud Light’s sales fell flat.
Things are historically bad the company can’t give the beer away — and it looks like nothing can put the genie back in the bottle.
Things began on April Fool’s Day, when transgender social media “influencer” Dylan Mulvaney posted a video flamboyantly showing off a Bud Light with his face on it.
Bud hoped his Instagram post would have an impact on Mulvaney’s 1.8 million followers… and it did, but not the way they hoped.
WATCH 👉 Bud Light + parent company Anheuser-Busch InBev are taking steps to mitigate losses among its independent distributors following a controversial partnership with transgender influencer Dylan Mulvaney. @karahrucker reports 👉 https://t.co/4uHI1tEt6K pic.twitter.com/8oM0ettNwp
— Straight Arrow News (@StraightArrow__) May 23, 2023
The company’s demographic feels betrayed. Customers have started a boycott — and a few decided to try to eradicate the beer completely.
Kid Rock posted a video of himself rapid-fire shooting cans of Bud Light. “F**k Bud Light!” the rocker shouted, flashing his middle finger twice. “F**k Anheuser-Busch!”
Kid Rock shoots up Bud Light cans with rifle to protest Dylan Mulvaney partnership: 'F-ck Bud Light'pic.twitter.com/KaQcnksmvD
— ✨⃤djcalligraphy (@DJcalligraphy) April 4, 2023
Unfortunately for Bud, most Americans couldn’t be bothered to buy the budget beer, even for target practice.
The week of April 8, the national boycott had caused sales to fall 6.9 percent compared to the same time last year…and the company’s profit reports just kept getting worse.
On April 15, sales had fallen by 17 percent.
Sales dropped another 21.4 percent the week of April 22.
By April 29, sales slide another 23.3 percent.
For the week of May 6, sales decreased 23.6 percent.
And Bud Light posted its sixth straight week of declining sales on May 13, selling nearly 25 percent fewer cans, bottles, and 20 ounces.
Through it all, the marketing “experts” thought hiring Mulvaney was a brilliant marketing move. The Bud brand’s marketing chief, Alissa Heinerscheid, said she came up with the idea to fight the beer’s image as “fratty” and “out of touch”… and now consumers won’t touch her beer.
Even after the third solid week of losses, the company said the lost profits were small beer: Its total global sales were only down one percent.
“We believe we have the experience, the resources, and the partners to manage this,” said Doukeris.
Bud’s best and brightest also believed Americans would soon forget the company’s outrage and go back to their usual beverage-buying habits, especially if Bud tried to pretend the transgender tryst never happened.
Bud’s parent company started backpedaling and gaslighting immediately. Anheuser-Busch InBev CEO Michel Dimitrios Doukeris said Mulvaney’s post was “one post, not a formal campaign or advertisement.” It reportedly put Heinerscheid on a leave of absence.
The company poured the gas on its traditional advertising campaigns, tripling its marketing spending. Bud Light’s next round of advertising will focus on more typical beer fare: veterans, football, and country music.
But Americans aren’t buying Doukeris’ explanation — or his beer, either.
Even if you give it away for free.
A beer seller had so many unsold cases of Bud Light on his hands that he offered buyers a $20 rebate on a case of beer that costs $19.98…and he still couldn’t sell them.
“You’re making two cents profit per case when you buy Bud Light,” a user on Twitter said. “And there’s still plenty on the shelf. They can’t even give people money to take it off their hands!”
Buy it for $19.98 a case, get a $20.00 rebate. You're making two cents profit per case when you buy Bud Light. And there's still plenty on the shelf. They can't even give people money to take it off their hands! https://t.co/qFsgazv99R
— Aldous Huxley's Ghost™ (@AF632) May 14, 2023
Things are so bad that the Wall Street Journal just reported, “The brewer recently told its wholesalers that it would buy back unsold cases of beer that have gone past their expiration date.”
Meanwhile, Bud Light remains the best-selling premium beer—but its lead over Coors Light fell by 10 percent compared to the same time last year—and Coors Light sales rose by more than 20 percent.
Pabst Blue Ribbon sales rose by almost 22 percent during the week of May 6, as well.
Anheuser-Busch and its parent company, InBev, may have more than stale brew on their hands: Two U.S. senators want to investigate the Dylan Mulvaney campaign for possibly breaking federal law.
“Dylan Mulvaney buys Barbie dolls and highlights ‘Days of Girlhood.’ Why would Bud Light promote someone whose content caters to young children?” said Senator Ted Cruz, R-Texas.
Cruz and Senator Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., sent a letter to the company demanding an explanation.
The two wrote to Brendan Whitworth, CEO of Anheuser-Busch that he could “avoid a lengthy investigation … by instead having Anheuser-Busch publicly sever its relationship with Dylan Mulvaney, publicly apologize to the American people for marketing alcoholic beverages to minors, and direct Dylan Mulvaney to remove any Anheuser-Busch content from his social media platforms.”
Dylan Mulvaney buys Barbie dolls and highlights “Days of Girlhood.”
Why would Bud Light promote someone whose content caters to young children? pic.twitter.com/JL9iNWRjUZ
— Senator Ted Cruz (@SenTedCruz) May 24, 2023
The retail store Target lost $9 billion in one week after it unveiled a line of transgender clothing for children, designed by an apparent Satanist.
Disney has lost $50 billion in value since it picked a fight with Florida Governor Ron DeSantis over a bill prohibiting children from having life-altering sex-change operations.
What did they expect?
About two out of three Americans say children are too young to decide whether to have unnecessary surgery or to take puberty blockers that could sterilize them for life.
They thought Americans would lay down as huge corporations team up with left-wing radicals to shove the next social revolution down their throat.
Those marketing gurus who came up with these abominations will go down with the folks who dream up New Coke, Crystal Pepsi, and the AMC Gremlin.
The American people are demanding that twentysomething Woke college grads pushing their private views on the buying public show their customers a little respect, one dollar at a time.
Frank Holmes is a veteran journalist and an outspoken conservative that talks about the news that was in his weekly article, “On The Holmes Front.”