Bud Light Sales Drop Leaves Conservatives Rejoicing: 'Devastating Boycott'

News that Bud Light has seen a 17 percent decline in sales revenue since it received backlash over a partnership with a transgender influencer has been welcomed by conservatives. They've taken it as a sign their calls for a boycott have been successful.

Volume of beer sales had declined 11 percent in the first week of the controversy, ending April 8, and 21 percent in the week ending April 15. This is according to figures from NielsenIQ and Bump Williams Consulting, originally cited by trade newsletter Beer Marketer's Insights.

On April 2, Mulvaney posted a video to her 1.7 million Instagram followers. In it, she explained that Bud Light had sent her a personalized can with her face on to commemorate 365 days of being a woman. The brand faced criticism of alienating its traditional audience, and the row has crystalized a broader debate about the acceptance of transgender individuals in public life.

Following the boycott calls, supporters of Kari Lake, the Donald Trump-backed GOP candidate for Arizona Governor in 2022, refused to drink the beer at an open bar at a rally in Iowa. Meanwhile, a bar owner in Kentucky said he had noticed the drink sparking rows between patrons. Other licensed venues have withdrawn the beer from sale.

The partnership has drawn public displays of anger. Musician Kid Rock took a gun to several cases of Bud Light in a viral video, while a Republican state senator in Missouri posted a video of himself smashing a can with a baseball bat outside his state's Capitol building.

Many prominent figures have also waded into the debate. Donald Trump Jr. and Marjorie Taylor Greene are among those to have made reference to the row. Celebrities such as Joe Rogan and Caitlyn Jenner have also weighed in.

The controversy has caught the attention of the White House, which condemned threats made against Bud Light's parent company, Anheuser-Busch. Biden administration press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said of a bomb threat against one of the brewery's facilities that "violence and vitriol against transgender Americans has to stop."

The industry figures said that the decline in sales of Bud Light in recent weeks had been absorbed by its competitors: as the beer brand's dollar revenue dropped 17 percent, sales in Coors Light and Miller Lite rose by a similar amount.

Eric Deters, an attorney and Republican candidate for Kentucky governor, described the results as a sign of a "DEVASTATING BOYCOTT."

"We can do better than this! Let's go!" one Twitter user wrote. Another responded: "I'm doing my part!"

"This is so shocking!" Jebra Faushay, a self-described satirical account, tweeted. "Who would have thought that having a trans spokesperson for redneck beer would backfire????"

However, another user noted that the sales figures suggested "83 percent of Bud Light drinkers are carrying on as normal."

Newsweek approached Anheuser-Busch via email for comment on Tuesday.

The latest market data came just a day after news emerged that Anheuser-Busch had placed a second top marketing executive, Daniel Blake, on a leave of absence. Days earlier, Alissa Heinerscheid, marketing chief for Bud Light, had also stepped back.

A person familiar with the company told trade magazine Ad Age that the past two weeks had been a "rollercoaster" for the firm's leadership. Following disclosure of the sales figures, there was "definitely a feel of panic within the organization."

Anheuser-Busch has remained tight-lipped during the controversy. Its only public acknowledgement of the outcry came on April 14. Brendan Whitworth, the brewery's CEO, issued an official statement, saying: "We never intended to be part of a discussion that divides people. We are in the business of bringing people together over a beer."