(TheConservativeTimes.org) – Anheuser-Busch has informed distributors it will buy back unsold expired Bud Light as a damage control measure in the face of a continuing conservative boycott. The company has been boycotted since it began running Bud Light ads featuring transgender influencer Dylan Mulvaney. The protest has even spilled over into other beers sold under the umbrella of the parent company, Anheuser-Busch.
Wholesalers are feeling the effects of consumer fury as palettes loaded with Bud Light linger in warehouses, collecting dust.
Anheuser-Busch has made several peace offerings, including the “buy back” of unsold inventory, focusing on country music in their advertising, and re-investing in football ads.
The company has also placed the top executives who led the promotion with Mulvaney on leave. The company initially hired Alissa Heinerscheid to broaden the brand’s appeal, away from the “frat boy” image, as she put it. When consumers were horrified by the Mulvaney/Bud Light relationship, she was swiftly put out to pasture.
Mulvaney gushing about a Bud Light can bearing the trans-influencer’s face caused beer sales to plummet almost overnight. By mid-May, according to a Bump Williams analysis of Nielsen data, Bud Light sales were down 28% compared to sales levels for the same period in 2022, and many prominent figures had publicly endorsed a complete boycott of the brand.
The boycott entered frenzy mode when musician Kid Rock uploaded a video of himself shooting multiple cans of Bud Light. John Rich, a country music artist and proprietor of a pub in Nashville, reported that patrons had stopped purchasing Bud Light at his facility.
Although political boycotts have typically lost momentum or been unsuccessful, Bud Light appears to be in a difficult position. The brand’s popularity had already been in decline due to the growing popularity of hard seltzers and craft brews. After hiring a seasoned beer marketer to take Heinerscheid’s place, the company returned to more traditional forms of advertising, including a collaboration with the veterans’ charity Folds of Honor. They also brought back the Clydesdales.
The ultra-patriotic ads were not all that successful. They were met with cynicism, with viewers feeling as if they were being patronized, and they questioned Anheuser-Busch’s sincerity.
As the summer beer season is upon us, it seems Bud Light will not be in many coolers across the nation.
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