Staff Reports
Bud Light is in some serious trouble. Not only are they losing shelf space to other brands, but they are also facing declining sales in bars and other on-premise channels. Molson Coor’s CEO, Gavin Hattersley, revealed that retailers are reallocating space during shelf resets, with even more resets planned for the fall. On the bright side, Molson Coors is gaining tap handles in bars, but that may not be enough to save Bud Light.
In addition to the competitors’ claims, many distributors have given up on trying to win customers for Bud Light. The numbers also don’t lie. U.S. retail-store sales for Bud Light have fallen significantly compared to last year, with a drop of 26.8 percent in recent weeks. AB InBev’s revenue and earnings have also taken a hit in the second quarter. This all points to a grim future for Bud Light.
Alissa Heinerscheid, Bud Light’s VP of Marketing, doubles down on her extreme woke strategy to promote the “declining” American beer brand to “young people”, while smearing her former customers as “fratty and out of touch”.
How’s that working out for you, lady? @budlight pic.twitter.com/zNYKbMnZnu
— Old Row (@OldRowOfficial) April 9, 2023
Anheuser-Busch InBev tried to counter their declining sales with a media blitz campaign. They flooded the airwaves with lighthearted commercials, hoping to win back customers. However, it may be too little, too late. The campaign depicts beer drinkers enjoying Bud Light while facing summertime mishaps. The ad has been shown on national television about 3,400 times, but that’s still far less than last year.
To make matters worse, Bud Light seemed out of touch with their customers. Their ill-fated decision to offer commemorative beer cans to a trans activist backfired, and their ousted marketing executive made derogatory comments about the brand’s customer base. Despite this, Bud Light claims that most consumers surveyed have a favorable view of the brand, but the sales drop tells a different story.
It seems like Bud Light may be in for a rough future. As the New York Post’s editorial board put it, Bud Light went woke and may well permanently croak. It’s clear that their attempts to recover may not be enough to save them from their increasingly bad reputation and declining sales.
