As the controversy surrounding Bud Light’s partnership with transgender activist Dylan Mulvaney heats up, the brand’s parent company has suffered a concurrent loss of more than $5 billion in market value.
Yes, that’s billion with a “B.”
The backlash against Anheuser-Busch began on April 1 when Mulvaney, a transgender social media “influencer,” posted a video letting fans know that Bud Light had sent him a can of beer with his face on it and that he was partnering with the brand for an ad campaign.
In short order, country singers Travis Tritt and John Rich announced that they were boycotting the beer. In Rich’s case, he removed the once-popular product from his Nashville bar after customers stopped ordering it. And the two country stars were just the beginning.
Now, more than a week after Mulvaney announced his Bud Light sponsorship, it appears that the brand has been dealt a major blow.
“Since March 31, shares of Bud Light’s parent company have fallen by nearly 4% — knocking down the company’s market capitalization from $132.38 billion to $127.13 billion,” the New York Post reported on Wednesday.
This was a big turnaround for the company, as Anheuser-Busch had enjoyed a six-month stock market rise that culminated in a value of $134 billion on March 31, according to Newsweek.
Clearly, that trend saw an abrupt reversal starting around the time Mulvaney posted his now-infamous video.
It also didn’t help that Anheuser-Busch exec Alissa Heinerscheid hinted that the brand needed to move beyond its current customer base and begin appealing to a more woke clientele.
It might be too early to pinpoint the Mulvaney partnership as the cause of Bud’s sudden decline in market value, but many think there is an obvious correlation between the two.
Anheuser Busch down 4 Billion dollars thanks to all of you. Go woke… Go broke! You made the difference. Strength in numbers is what Stinchfield’s army is all about! #BudLightWentWoke #Budlight pic.twitter.com/OrzSV3Ek3X
— Grant Stinchfield (@stinchfield1776) April 11, 2023
And the boycott is only growing. Newsmax host Carl Higbie showed the company just what he thought of its new spokesman by using a shotgun to test the mettle of a few Bud Light cans.
Ya lost me @budlight pic.twitter.com/qXStpuaD2T
— Carl Higbie (@CarlHigbie) April 9, 2023
He was preceded by rock star Kid Rock, whose choice of firearm was a bit more powerful.
WARNING: The following video contains images and language that some viewers will find offensive.
— KidRock (@KidRock) April 4, 2023
The brand seems to know it is in a tough spot as, since the debut of the Mulvaney ad, it has gone dark on social media. Clearly, the fallout over the ad is still reverberating in the boardroom and executive offices at Anheuser-Busch.
We don’t know just how much the controversy will impact the company. But it seems we have a good idea.
This article appeared originally on The Western Journal.
