Anheuser-Busch plans to temporarily redesign some of its Bud Light and Budweiser packaging as it scrambles to recover from the Dylan Mulvaney fiasco, The Post has learned.
Last week, the company held a meeting at its US headquarters in St. Louis with distributors to discuss its strategy for dealing with the backlash, according to sources briefed on the situation.
Among the new initiatives planned is a temporary redesign of its Budweiser and Bud Light aluminum bottles, according to a distributor who did not want to be identified.
Anheuser-Busch will produce bottles with a camouflage print and images of the “Folds of Honor” program, which provides educational scholarships for children and spouses of fallen and disabled American military service members and first responders, according to the executive.
“It’s an aluminum bottle,” the source told The Post, asking not to be named. “I believe it is the only package that will be transitioning, but I am not 100% certain on that.”
The conservative outcry began when Mulvaney, who has more than 10 million followers on social media, revealed that the beer company sent packs of Bud Light featuring her face as a way to celebrate her first full year as an out-and-proud trans woman.
The temporary redesign will be part of Anheuser-Busch’s efforts to invest heavily in the brand this spring and summer, as the Post reported. The company kicked off the blitz during the NFL draft at the end of April.
At some New York grocery stores this weekend, the company offered customers a free T-shirt with the logo ‘Ultra Mom’ for anyone who bought Michelob Ultra products.
Other likely marketing strategies, experts speculate, include discounting the beer at retail stores and investing heavily in sports marketing, and incorporating the US military and country and western music, farmers, law enforcement, and first responders into their advertising.
As reported by The Post, nationwide retail sales of Bud Light sales dropped 23.6% versus a year ago during the week ended May 6 — slightly worse than the 23.3% decline for the week ended April 29, according to data from Bump Williams Consulting and NielsenIQ data.
Sales of other Anheuser-Busch brands also continued to drop, albeit at a slower rate than the week before. Those included Budweiser, down 9.7% versus an 11.4% drop a week earlier; Michelob Ultra, down 2.9% versus 4.3%; and Natural Light, down 2.5% versus 5.2% the previous week.
Meanwhile, rival beer brands competing against Bud Light — the No. 1 beer in the US, generating revenue of $4.8 billion last year — are grabbing market share at a faster clip as Anheuser-Busch grapples with the fallout over its ill-fated tie-up with the transgender influencer that launched April 1.
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