Brendan Whitworth, the US boss of Anheuser-Busch, said Bud Light’s parent company will cut checks to reeling wholesalers and distributors — but avoided apologizing for the Dylan Mulvaney fiasco.
Whitworth said “the discussion surrounding our company and Bud Light has moved away from beer” as he announced a three-step plan to revive the tarnished brand on Thursday.
The beer baron has yet to directly address the disastrous tie-up with the trans influence — which has led to boycott calls that have knocked Bud Light from its two-decade perch as America’s best-selling beer.
Instead, he offered a financial olive branch from the Belgian-based beer giant that involves “investing to protect the jobs of our frontline employees” and launching a new ad campaign this summer that will tout the beer as “easy to drink, easy to enjoy.”
“We are providing financial assistance to our independent wholesalers to help them support their employees,” Whitworth said in a statement released Thursday.
He also said the company would reimburse distributors for “the freight/fuel surcharge through the end of 2023” as cases of Bud Light languish on store shelves.
The third part of the plan involves launching a more palatable ad campaign that will reinforce “what you’ve always loved about our brand — that it’s easy to drink and easy to enjoy,” Whitworth wrote.
Sales of Bud Light have been consistently moving downhill since early April, when beer drinkers’ outrage over the partnership led to calls for boycotts.
Modelo Especial, the Mexican lager, claimed the crown as America’s bestselling beer in May, according to data compiled by consulting firm Bump Williams.
In the week that ended on June 3, sales of Bud Light were down 24.4% compared to the same week a year ago, according to Bump Williams.
Beer brands in the Anheuser-Busch portfolio have also seen sales lag in recent weeks, including Budweiser and Michelob Ultra, while competitors like Coors Light and Miller Lite — both of which are properties of Molson Coors — have reaped the benefits.
According to research firm Circana, sales of Bud Light fell by 23% year-over-year in May to $297.3 million while rival lager Modelo Especial was catapulted to the top spot, generating $333.1 million — a 15% increase year-over-year.
As Bud Light approaches its third month of boycotts and below-par sales, consumers appear divided on their feelings toward the embattled brand, including whether companies should invoke politics in their marketing.
“Shark Tank” billionaire Mark Cuban pushed back against the controversy, saying how “woke” ideology is “good business.”
Most recently, famed country singer Garth Brooks said he’ll offer “every brand of beer” at his new Nashville bar, including Anheuser-Busch’s beleaguered portfolio of brews.
“Our thing is this, if you are let into this house, love one another,” he added of his upcoming watering hole, called Friends in Low Places Bar & Honky-Tonk.
Meanwhile, fellow country star Travis Tritt called for a boycott of all Anheuser-Busch beers during his tour, which is running through the end of the summer.
“I will be deleting all Anheuser-Busch products from my tour hospitality rider. I know many other artists who are doing the same,” the singer-songwriter said on Twitter.
“A great American company that later sold out to the Europeans and became unrecognizable to the American consumer. Such a shame,” he continued, noting that “other artists who are deleting Anheuser-Busch products from their hospitality rider might not say so in public for fear of being ridiculed and canceled.”
Tritt joins the likes of Kid Rock, who also publicly protested Anheuser-Busch after it teamed up with the trans star.
“Let me say something to all of you and be as clear and concise as possible,” he said — picking up a semi-automatic rifle and shooting up several cases of the American beer on a table.
“F–k Bud Light, and f–k Anheuser-Busch,” the rocker snapped while flipping the bird at the camera.
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