Bud light sales are cratering...along with other A/B beers

As for the last part, once again: only time will tell.

I agree, of course, that this was among history's great marketing disasters. The indications I'd heard, though, were that this decision was not anything that had involved the top brass; it was not considered that those empowered with finding spokespeople to help further expand Bud's market penetration, could possibly recruit anyone that might jeopardize Budweiser's hold on its longtime customer base. They obviously hadn't realized just how much different, are these times we're living in, at present.

 

Well, mock women by pretending they are 'represented' by a guy who acts like a parody of 1950's teenage ditz. And explain that you are doing this because your existing customers are fratty and out of touch and they will relieve you of the strain of dealing with them by going somewhere else.

You state that 'times are different' but when has it ever been a good idea to insult your customers and women like this? As for 'time will tell' it's been six months. The relationship that Bud had with the customers that left, is over.

Tell your customers that they are low-class frat boys and that you wanted to change the user base to upscale Ivy League types, the folks you insulted will get out of your way so that you can pursue the customers you actually want.

 

I will start calling you, if you don't mind, "He, of the single perspective." It's amusing, but in a frustrating way, that you are confined to such a limited way of viewing things. I will explain, but at this point I can pretty confidently predict, you are not going to be able to wrap your head around this differing way of understanding my words, and this situation.

It has never been a "good idea to insult your customers, and women." What has changed, though, is that the equivalent of something "like this," in the past-- and remember, we would have to adjust the example, to the earlier time; so if we were talking ten years ago, Mulvaney would be replaced by a married, same sex couple, for instance-- would not have been considered by most customers, as a personal insulting of them.

Six months does not, the same as forever, mean. That is so, only to those who consider things, w/in a very restricted, time horizon.

This goes once again, to the heart of your argument, and the thing I have been unsuccessful, in numerous attempts, at getting you to explain. I will try, one last time. How was signing with Mulvaney, the equivalent of Bud's telling its customers that it saw them as low class frat boys, or saying anything at all, for that matter, about its other customers? They were only trying to grow their sales, as does almost any business, and so were looking for ways to appeal to those outside of their normal customer demographic. You act as though you understand marketing, so why can't you appreciate, at least, that this was the intention of Bud's misfire. Anyone would have to be daft, to think that Bud Light had wanted to replace the customers who were its bread and butter; they only wanted to add a dab of jam, alongside them; in addition to, combined with, them. Budweiser had one goal, only: to sell more beer. That means, getting more people to drink Bud Light. And that necessitates, they go outside of their established base of customers; try to reel in some who might normally drink something else-- wine coolers, or what have you; people who have never given any consideration to being a Bud drinker.

For so many Bud Light drinkers to react so dramatically to this, resembles the behavior of a jealous, possessive boyfriend, seeing his girl talk to an unfamiliar guy.

 

For starters, I am not sure what you mean by "so dramatically". I had been a Bud Light drinker for 20 plus years, not because I just love the taste of Bud Light over other beers, but as much as anything out of simple habit. It required no thought. Every bar had it, and rather than looking at their beer list it was easy to say Bud Light. Switching that habit to saying Blue Light has taken virtually no effort whatsoever. There is nothing dramatic about it, and I certainly have every right to choose what beer it is that I drink.

Therein lies Bud Light's Ivy League Marketing Director's biggest mistake, assuming that brand loyalty for such a me too product is forever. In a situation where alternatice options are limited, you may be able to change up your marketing focus and still retain your old customers, but this is not one of those products. A perfect example of this is the NFL. A few years back I was absolutely livid with the NFL for the kneeling issue, and if I were not a person that had spent every Sunday in the Fall watching NFL football from afternoon until night, I would have left them too. The problem is, there is no alternative, and so I begrudgingly remained a customer. Domestic Beer does not hold that same advantage. They are EASILY replaced. Hell, in a blind taste test I literally could not tell a difference.

Beer has famously been marketed via what is called lifestyle marketing...

" Lifestyle marketing is a marketing technique that positions a product or service to possess ideals, aspirations, and aesthetics that the target audience identifies with1. It is about selling customers a lifestyle, not just a product2. Brands use lifestyle marketing to form greater customer relationships by understanding what customers value in their lives and how to connect with them2"

This lifestyle marketing is what has been sold to customers for decades. It is literally how we as a society have been conditioned to identify with their brand. Now you have their marketing director telling us that the lifestyle that they have been portraying to identify with their customers is fratty and out of touch. Well, since I responded to their lifestyle marketing, that means that according to her, "I" am fratty and out of touch. That is an insult. I would beg to differ with her description of me, but she said it. Attacking your customers that have responded for decades to your lifestyle marketing is a colossal mistake.

So what is their new "lifestyle" they are trying to create for customers to identify? What "ideals, aspirations, and aesthetics are they creating as their positioning? Apparently it is Dylan Mulvaney, and how is he characterizing the lifestyle to which I am supposed to identify? Well he said that he is getting ready for March Madness and asking what sport they play as he says condescendingly says "yeah team".

Can you see the problem here? You have literally abandoned and insulted your carefully curated lifestyle marketing customer base, so that you can appeal to some tiny insignificant segment of the population that your customer base does not identify with in any form or fashion. What makes it even worse is that your tiny insignificant segment of the population doesnt even drink beer for the most part, and if they do, it certainly is not a domestic light beer.

This wasnt a legitimate marketing decision. It was virtue signaling. They are now paying the price, and undoubtedly, marketers of other products have no doubt taken notice. I dont think that Bud Light necessarily deserves the death penalty, but I am more than happy to continue the boycott so that it sends a message to others that virtue-signaling in your marketing is a bad idea. In truth, now that I am out of the habit, I am not sure that Bid Light will ever again be the brand I order mindlessly out of habit. It no longer takes any effort, the habit is dead, that much is certain.

They are free to prop up Dylan Mulvaney all that they want, and I am free to order a different brand of beer that more closely aligns with my lifestyle. Do you see how that works?

 

'I HAD BEEN ASSURED BY ALL THE SMARTEST PEOPLE THAT THE BUD LIGHT BOYCOTT WOULD GO FLAT: Beer giant AB InBev’s US sales plunge more than 13% on Bud Light fiasco. “The US is the brewer’s largest market – and where it seemingly cannot overcome the disastrous fallout from a marketing campaign in April with transgender influencer Dylan Mulvaney.”'

'It wasn’t the marketing campaign. It was the disdain that motivated it.

Exactly.

https://instapundit.com/614510/



'many beer experts say they believe that a core group of Bud Light’s longtime customers have left the brand for good.'

 

Nothing Says 'Halloween' Like Bud Light Trying to Claw Its Way Out of the Grave



The numbers were as gruesome:.

'…The brewing giant revealed part of its plan to revitalize the brand Tuesday after it reported the company’s revenue fell nearly 14% from July to September in the U.S., its largest market, as Bud Light sales sank.'

'…Bud Light sales are still lagging, as the brand dropped 29% in the four weeks ending Oct. 21 compared to same period a year ago, according to Nielsen data compiled by research firm Bump Williams Consulting. Sales have fallen nearly 19% this year, according to the firm.'

'Anheuser-Busch is now trying to turn around the brand’s fortunes by marketing Bud Light through platforms it considers uncontroversial.'

'UFC chief executive officer Dana White said: “I’m proud to announce we are back in business together.” '

'…But fans immediately weighed in to trash Dana White for giving Bud Light a spotlight as his new UFC partner. Many felt that White was a “sellout” and that the deal was a “slap in the face” to all UFC fans. Many voices even called for a boycott of UFC events.'

'Asked about the growing controversy over his choice, White struck back, characterizing critical fans as “dummies,” “a**holes,” and “f**king stupid” for their opposition.'

Seems like it's going great!

 

I bought a couple cans last week "not the lite crap" for my ghost pepper wing sauce, so it's prolly my fault for the uptick

 

Are there still snowflakes butt hurt over Bud Light sending a case of beer to a trans? My lord...get a friggin grip folks. Not sure what I think is more silly...people who think they can change their gender or those butt hurt over what Bud Light did. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

 

It's a rational response to contempt by a supplier.

'LOL, HE SHOULD HAVE BEEN GONE LONG AGO': Anheuser-Busch’s chief US marketing officer steps down as sales continue to plunge in the wake of Dylan Mulvaney and Bud Light fiasco: World’s biggest brewer reports 13.5% slump in revenue in the third quarter.

'Contempt for your customers is a bad look.'

 

So you're one of the snowflakes, eh? Haha

 

You're just name calling.

I don't do voluntary business with folks that insult me.

Oof! Bud Light Paid Dylan Mulvaney Six Figures to Destroy Its Brand.



'Bud Light was once the top-selling beer brand in America. It was, to say the least, iconic. Then, on April Fools’ Day no less, trans activist Dylan Mulvaney revealed his partnership with Bud Light, taking to Instagram to show off his customized beer pack featuring his surgically altered faux-woman face in honor of his full year of pretending to be a woman, while pretending to be oblivious to what March Madness is and which sport in involves.'

'It got so bad that Anheuser-Busch was literally giving beer away for free just to move product and lost billions in market value.'

'Everything Anheuser-Busch did to make amends failed, and it even sought to distance itself from Mulvaney, denying that an actual partnership even existed. “This was one single can given to one social media influencer,” Anheuser-Busch's CEO claimed in an apology letter. “It was not made for production or sale to the general public. This can is not a formal campaign or advertisement.”'

They were lying

'Well, it turns out that wasn’t the case at all. Once again, Steven Crowder has the receipts, and the receipts show that Anheuser-Busch paid Mulvaney $185,000, making it crystal clear that the two parties did have a formal business arrangement.'

 

Not my problem you get all butt hurt over something so silly.

 

Fake News.

I'm not butt hurt and it's not silly. $11B in lost market cap.

 

It's quite silly to get upset over Bud Light partnering with this one person. All of your reactions reminds me of when my daughter and her friends were in middle school and would get so upset when they didn't get enough likes on social media. So you have something in common with 11 year old girls. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

 

I noticed the other day that the two people most responsible for the fiasco have been on "leave". They have been on leave since the beginning. If Bud wants their sales back they need to apologize to their ex-customers and burn those two at the stake instead of them being on "leave". If they lose a small percentage of their business from the tranny whackos that is much better than losing the business of everyone else. But, they are still trying to change the subject instead of admitting their sins.

 

No it isn't.

I'm glad to see them get what's coming to them.

Show your customers disdain and they'll become someone else's customers. It's the American way, but then you probably aren't much of a fan of America, or Americans.

 

It's a permanent break.

 

Thanks for proving how emotional you are over this. I didn’t realize the American way was for grown men to get butt hurt over Bud Light partnering with a trans. I’ll stick with acting like a man and not get butt hurt and throw a temper tantrum.

 

Why can't they say that these two people are no longer with the company. They always say they are on leave.

 

Probably figured they could just lay low until it blew over.

I was referring to the break between A/B and their former customers.

 

THE PROLES AREN’T BUYING WHAT THE LEADERS ARE SELLING: Photos show mostly empty seats for Dylan Mulvaney event at Penn State.



'An image of the crowd posted to social media by the Young America’s Foundation (YAF) shows Mulvaney talking onstage in front of a predominantly empty auditorium.



Riley Gaines: Transgender issues are about the ‘sheer essence of humanity’

'The event also took place at Penn State’s HUB-Robeson Center’s Alumni Hall, the same location where Riley Gaines was scheduled to talk in October prior to the school canceling her speech.'

 

How many young girls have ruined their lives because of this Dylan creep?

 

None that I’ve heard of. Has this Dylan creep forced young girls to do things against their will?

 

Yeah, No – We’re Not Ready to Forgive Bud Light.

'I love the cynicism of literally buying off conservative influencers to end the misery. I would suggest that maybe not hiring people to market your crappy product who hate your audience might be a better option. Bud Light thinks buying out of the boycott is a great investment.'

'So pathetic. I love all the lame explanations about how Bud Light is a great company and how it’s wonderful and how “Oh, we have to help out all these working guys who are working for Bud Light, and they shouldn’t have to suffer because the corporation they are part of wants to support an agenda that leads to the mutilation of children. Why do you hate the workers? Here, everybody have some crappy beer. Excuse me, I got to make a deposit at the Bank of Savings & Loan.”'

'If you choose to work for a company that wants to make it easier to castrate young boys, because that’s what glorifying weirdos like Dylan Mulvaney does, well, I’m not obligated to care more about your employment prospects than you are about my society.'

'Forgiveness requires a recognition of wrongdoing, an apology, and the making of amends. One thing I haven’t seen is anybody from Bud Light saying, “You know, we suck. We shouldn’t have glorified this weirdo and his whole bizarre agenda, and we shouldn’t have insulted and disrespected our largely conservative consumers. We were wrong to do that. That was bad, and we’re never going to do it again. We reject this whole trans weirdness, and we love you, our consumers. You’re the heart and soul of America. You built our country, you feed it, you fuel it, and you fight its wars, and you are great Americans, and we love you, and we’re sorry. We’re sorry sorry sorry sorry sorry, and we will never do it again.” That would be a start.'

'An apology will never happen — like almost every major corporation, Anheuser-Busch is too terrified of ginning up the rainbow-alphabet outrage mob on social media to actually publicly back down from the Mulvaney debacle.'

Screw 'em.

 

'I HAD BEEN ASSURED BY ALL THE SMARTEST PEOPLE THAT MAGA ATTENTION SPANS WERE TOO SHORT TO MAKE A BOYCOTT STICK': Bud Light boycott likely cost Anheuser-Busch InBev over $1 billion in lost sales.

'The world’s largest brewer may have lost as much as $1.4 billion in sales because of the backlash to its brief partnership with a transgender influencer to promote Bud Light beer.'

Dylan Mulvany, the $1.4B man!

'Anheuser-Busch InBev (BUD) reported record revenues for 2023 Thursday but said its “full growth potential was constrained” by its US business, where sales were hurt by a boycott of Bud Light over a sponsored Instagram post with Dylan Mulvaney.'

'The boycott wasn’t about Mulvaney nearly as much as it was about Bud Light’s sneering marketing exec who put the promotion together and was caught on tape sneering at Bud Light drinkers.'

And it was about mocking women, and they refused to apologize for insulting their customers.