Bud Light’s attempt to lure back beer drinkers with a pair of seemingly innocuous tweets over the holiday weekend was met with backlash stemming from the disastrous Dylan Mulvaney campaign.
The brand, which has suffered a staggering drop in sales since the April 1 tie-up with the trans influencer, tweeted an image of ice-cold Bud Lights with the caption: “It’s 4th of July weekend, enjoy some beer.”
Then Tuesday, its official Twitter account followed that up with an image of a Bud Light drinker having a frosty one on a steamy day sitting next to a fan.
“Never underestimate the power of a makeshift mister. Happy 4th everyone,” the tweet read.
However, the attempt at levity was met with a deluge of negative responses.
“My family always called it Independence Day…This year I guess it’s independence from politically active beer too,” one user commented.
Another Twitter user wrote: “Enjoy some brands that DON’T belong to Anheuser-Busch. Make sure the beer you drink from now on does NOT fall under their market share.”
The Twitter user posted a graphic promoting Yuengling, the family-owned beer headquartered in Pennsylvania.
Yuengling is one of several rival brands that have seen their sales soar in the weeks since Mulvaney touted Bud Light to her millions of followers on Instagram and TikTok.
Sales of Bud Light, the nation’s top-selling beer, plunged 27.9% in the week that ended on June 24 — a slight improvement from the 28.5% drop the previous week, according to data from NielsenIQ and Bump Williams Consulting.
The continued decline has threatened Bud Light’s two-decade status as the nation’s top-selling beer and has spilled over into hurting Anheuser-Busch’s other brands.
Sales of Michelob Ultra declined by 4.4% compared to a 4% decline the previous week, while Budweiser was down 12.1% compared to 12.3% the previous week, according to the consultancy.
Anheuser-Busch has been trying to reignite Bud light sales with rebates and a new advertising campaign.
Meanwhile, the second-largest beer brand, Modelo Especial, whose international distribution is controlled by AB InBev but whose US operations are owned by Constellation Brands, continues to grab market share from Bud Light.
Bud Light’s previous efforts to make amends with alienated consumers included patriotic-themed commercials and ads with playful themes have fallen on deaf ears.
Mulvaney recently spoke out against the boycotts and Anheuser-Busch, stating that the brewer abandoned her.
Additional reporting by Lisa Fickenscher
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