Bud Light's parent company Anheuser-Busch InBev recorded a 14 percent revenue fall in the United States from July to September, according to its latest quarterly results.
Conservative campaigners have been boycotting Bud Light, until recently America's most-popular beer brand, in response to its collaboration with transgender influencer Dylan Mulvaney earlier this year. On April 1, Mulvaney shared video of herself drinking from a personalized Bud Light can, which had been sent to celebrate her "Day 365 of Girlhood," as part of a promotion with the company.
In response, activists vowed to stop buying the brand and released footage of themselves destroying crates of Bud Light in a variety of ways. These included running them over with a tractor and shooting them with an artillery gun.
Anheuser-Busch's third quarter figures show a 14 percent decline in U.S. revenue, along with a 17 percent fall in sales to American retailers, similar to the figures it recorded for the second quarter between April and June. Newsweek has reached out to Anheuser-Busch InBev for comment by email.
The poor U.S. figures contrasted with Anheuser-Busch's global performance, which saw its revenue increase by 5 percent, compared to the same period in 2022. However, this was partly the result of high inflation in Argentina driving up prices in the country.
While it is unclear what proportion of the decline in Anheuser-Busch revenue was due to Bud Light, data from NielsenIQ, which tracks consumer spending, acquired by Fox Business, showed Bud Light sales in off-premise locations in the U.S. had fallen by 15.9 percent in the year to August 19. By contrast, off-premise sales of Mexican beer Modelo increased by 10.3 percent over the same period. This gave Modelo an 8.4 percent share of the U.S. beer market, overtaking the traditionally dominant Bud Light, which had an 8.2 percent share.
On October 24, Anheuser-Busch announced a new "multiyear marketing partnership" with the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), a popular mixed martial arts hosting company. This means Bud Light will become the "Official Beer Partner of UFC" in the U.S.
In a statement, UFC chief executive officer Dana White said: "I'm proud to announce we are back in business together." This was in reference to Bud Light being the company's original beer sponsors more than 15 years ago.
"There are many reasons why I chose to go with Anheuser-Busch and Bud Light, most importantly because I feel we are very aligned when it comes to our core values and what the UFC brand stands for," White added. "I'm looking forward to all of the incredible things we will do in the years ahead."
The move angered some conservatives, with a number pledging on social media that they would cancel their UFC subscriptions in response.
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James Bickerton is a Newsweek U.S. News reporter based in London, U.K. His focus is covering U.S. politics and world ... Read more
