REAL TALK

NEWS

Bud Light Faces Sales Crisis as Boycott Intensifies: Wholesale Retailers Furious as Beer Brand Buys Back Expired Products

ByAlki David

May 24, 2023

Bud Light, one of the leading beer brands in the United States, is facing a sales crisis following a disastrous marketing campaign that celebrated the transition of social media influencer Dylan Mulvaney, known for identifying as transgender. The controversial campaign, which aimed to promote inclusivity and diversity, backfired as it triggered a nationwide boycott by beer drinkers who objected to a man who dresses as a woman and claims to be a girl representing their favorite beverage. As a result, Bud Light’s sales plummeted, leading the company to take a drastic step to mitigate the damage caused.

In an attempt to salvage their tarnished reputation and address the concerns of wholesale retailers, Anheuser-Busch, the parent company of Bud Light, has decided to buy back expired Bud Light products from wholesale retailers. According to a report from the New York Post, the decision has left wholesale retailers furious with the company’s marketing choice. The move by Anheuser-Busch comes as a response to the significant decline in Bud Light sales following the boycott.

Data provided by Bump Williams Consulting and NielsenIQ reveals a staggering decline in Bud Light sales. During the week of May 6, Bud Light sales dropped by a substantial 23.6 percent compared to the same period in the previous year. The trend continued as the week ending April 29 saw a decline of 23.3 percent. These numbers demonstrate that Bud Light sales are steadily declining, indicating the severity of the situation for the beer brand.

The fallout from Bud Light’s ill-fated marketing campaign celebrating Dylan Mulvaney’s transition has proven to be detrimental to the brand’s sales. With beer drinkers across the nation expressing their dissatisfaction through a boycott, Bud Light has experienced a significant decline in sales. The decision to buy back expired products is an attempt by Anheuser-Busch to alleviate the frustration of wholesale retailers.

By Alki David

Alki David — Publisher, Media Architect, SIN Network Creator - live, direct-to-public communication, media infrastructure, accountability journalism, and independent distribution. Born in Lagos, Nigeria; educated in the United Kingdom and Switzerland; attended the Royal College of Art. Early internet broadcaster — participated in real-time public coverage during the 1997 Mars landing era using experimental online transmission from Beverly Hills. Founder of FilmOn, one of the earliest global internet television networks offering live and on-demand broadcasting outside legacy gatekeepers. Publisher of SHOCKYA — reporting since 2010 on systemic corruption inside the entertainment business and its expansion into law, finance, and regulation. Creator of the SIN Network (ShockYA Integrated Network), a federated media and civic-information infrastructure spanning investigative journalism, live TV, documentary, and court-record reporting. Lived and worked for over 40 years inside global media hubs including Malibu, Beverly Hills, London, Hong Kong and Gstaad. Early encounter with Julian Assange during the first Hologram USA operations proved a formative turning point — exposing the realities of lawfare, information suppression, and concentrated media power. Principal complainant and driving force behind what court filings describe as the largest consolidated media–legal accountability action on record, now before the Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court. Relocated to Antigua & Barbuda and entered sustained legal, civic, and informational confrontation over media power, safeguarding, and accountability at Commonwealth scale.