Bud Light Boycotts and Plummeting Sales Have Brewers Crying in Their Beer

The beer industry has had a brutal year marked by boycotts against Bud Light parent company Anheuser-Busch InBev, shifting consumer behavior and plummeting sales — and it's only going to get worse.

U.S. beer shipments dropped by more than 5% over the first nine months of 2023, according to data compiled by Beer Marketer's Insights. By the end of the year, shipments are expected to fall to their lowest level in 25 years, The Wall Street Journal reported.

Part of that is due to a long-telegraphed shift of consumer tastes as consumers — especially younger ones — ditch alcohol over health concerns. Gallup, which has asked American adults about their alcohol consumption since 2001, found in an August survey that adults under 35 years old were the only group to actually lower their consumption.

Gallup also found that although beer is the most popular type of alcohol beverage among Americans, that status is in decline as liquor gains ground. In addition, consumers have more options, often substituting canned cocktails and non-alcoholic beverages for beer.

As National Beer Wholesalers Association CEO Craig Purser told wholesalers in October: “This is an industry-wide, five-alarm fire. And the only way we’re going to fix it is to run toward that fire with purpose and with a plan.”

The beer industry was already dealing with shifting tastes before Bud Light in May brewed controversy with a social media advertisement featuring transgender TikTok influencer Dylan Mulvaney. Conservative commentators from Kid Rock to Joe Rogan criticized the brand, sparking a boycott.

Bud Light's sales sunk after the controversy, causing the brand to lose its title as America's top-selling beer by dollar sales. Now, more than half a year after the debacle began, the company is still feeling the pain. Retail-store sales were down 28% over the four weeks ended Dec. 9 compared with the same period in 2022, according Nielsen data analyzed by Bump Williams Consulting and cited by the Journal.

Even as Bud Light's sales sank, other beer brands showed gains. Constellation Brands's Model Especial overtook Bud Light as the top-selling beer by dollar sales in the U.S., while Yuengling, Pabst Blue Ribbon and Molson Coors — the maker of Coors Light and Millers Lite — also saw sales rise in 2023.

Goldman Sachs, which polled 37,000 retailers, recently found that a majority plan to allocate more shelf and cooler space to Constellation and Molson Coors. At the same time, Anheuser-Busch is expected to lose the most space.