We are working with local law enforcement to ensure the security of our people and our facilities,” an Anheuser-Busch spokesperson said in a statement to Vox. “The safety of our employees is always our top priority. On April 13, Vox was copied on multiple emails apparently also sent to Anheuser-Busch saying that bombs had been placed at various company locations. There have also been worrying developments. Its stock price has moved downward somewhat since the controversy took hold, but it’s still trading at around where it was at the start of the year, and well above last fall. Remember the Great Keurig Boycott of 2017? Or Frito-Lay in 2021? Or, more recently, when people were mad because M&Ms were girls? If Bud Light did a campaign like this, it probably thought it would help its sales with some segment of consumers, though its reaction to the controversy has been less than ideal and made people across the political spectrum - including Mulvaney - angry, perhaps undercutting that intent.īigger picture, Bud Light’s parent company, Anheuser-Busch InBev, has tons of brands under its umbrella and is worth over $100 billion. Typically, in terms of hurting sales, boycotts tend not to be super effective as most people don’t respond, let alone stick to them. “A lot of people are talking about it, fired up about it, they’re never drinking Bud Light again, yada yada yada, but they’ll be drinking them in a month, as soon as the news cycle quits,” he said. However, he didn’t expect the backlash to stick. “They’ll be drinking them in a month, as soon as the news cycle quits”ĭon, a liquor store owner in Arkansas who requested to be referred to by a pseudonym so he “doesn’t get caught up in the wokeness,” told me he had seen a 20 to 25 percent dip in Bud Light sales in the days after the controversy hit, with his admittedly small sample size of shoppers seemingly opting for Miller Lite and Coors Light instead. How big a deal is this for Bud Light? The answer will ultimately probably be not very, though the controversy has dragged out, and Bud Light’s sales have taken at least a temporary hit. It’s also indicative of where we are in the United States today.
If this all sounds ludicrous, it’s because it kind of is.
Many on the right have called for a boycott of the bestselling beer in the country. Kid Rock shot cases of the beer, and Travis Tritt said he’s banning the brand from his tour. Since then, Bud Light has found itself in the eye of the anti-trans storm. It’s showing up in conservative media and conservative legislation and even working itself into the mainstream.
Anti-trans sentiment is sweeping many corners of the right, targeting children, drag shows, driver’s licenses, and health care, among other areas. Trans issues are currently front and center in America’s culture war. Twice a month, Emily Stewart’s column exposes the ways we’re all being squeezed under capitalism.
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