Bud Light lost a significant amount in sales and market value following a boycott that began in April 2023 after a promotional partnership with transgender influencer Dylan Mulvaney. The boycott led to:
- A loss of about $1.4 billion in sales for Anheuser-Busch InBev (AB InBev), Bud Light's parent company, primarily in the U.S. market
- Bud Light's sales dropped by nearly 25% in the weeks following the boycott's start, and off-premise sales dropped 26% by May 2023
- The brand lost its position as the best-selling beer in the U.S., overtaken by Modelo Especial
- AB InBev's U.S. revenue fell by 10.5% in the April-June quarter of 2023, largely due to the decline in Bud Light sales
- The boycott also affected other AB InBev brands, with Budweiser sales down 11.4% and Grupo Modelo down 4.4%
- The company's stock price dropped about 15%, with a total shareholder value loss estimated at $27 billion attributed to the fallout from the incident
- AB InBev responded with increased advertising spend and layoffs in North America, as well as selling off some brands to offset the revenue drop
Despite some stabilization and slight recovery signals by mid-2023, Bud Light's sales and market share remained significantly impacted more than a year after the boycott began
. In summary, Bud Light lost over $1 billion in sales and caused a multi- billion-dollar hit to its parent company's market value due to the boycott triggered by the controversial marketing campaign
