Bud Light still struggles to recover from anti-trans boycott
Bud Light still struggles to recover from anti-trans boycott
Beverage maker Anheuser-Busch, the company behind beers like Budweiser, Busch, Natural Light and Stella Artois, reported better-than-expected Q1 results Wednesday morning.
Last April, Bud Light became the target of a conservative boycott over a 45-second promotional video posted by a transgender influencer. The company is slowly recovering from that episode; U.S. revenues were down 9% in the first quarter compared to the year before, which is actually an improvement over the 17% decline in the final quarter of last year.
Lots of brands faced anti-trans fury last year, but Target and Nike sales didn’t take a sustained hit.
Bud Light was vulnerable as a politically middle-of-the-road brand, according to Cornell associate professor Jura Liaukonyte. It’s also really replaceable.
“The big light beers in the United States are completely undifferentiated,” she said.
Switching to Miller Light isn’t really a sacrifice, because it tastes basically the same. That’s true for consumers and retailers.
“The shelf space for Bud Light has changed,” Liaukonyte said.
Another problem for Bud Light was its corporate response to the controversy, noted Joanna Schwartz at Georgia College and State University. “It was poor on every level.”
Bud Light backpedaled, saying it “never intended to be part of a discussion that divides people.” That wasn’t enough to placate anti-trans boycotters but enough to send a message: “We were willing to support LGBT causes back when there was no cost to us,” said Schwartz.
Schwartz sees a missed opportunity. LGBT consumers and their allies could have buoyed sales. Instead, the brand alienated everyone.
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