Anheuser-Busch is selling off beer brands as Bud Light catastrophe continues



The parent company of Bud Light is selling off several beer brands as the transgender public relations catastrophe drags on.

On Tuesday, Tilray Brands, a cannabis company, said it had reached an agreement with Anheuser-Busch InBev to purchase eight craft beer and beverage brands, including Shock Top, Blue Point, Breckenridge Brewery, Redhook Brewery, and HiBall Energy.

The eight brands represent less than 1% of the company's craft beer assets and represent the company's “less stellar-performing assets,” according to Benj Steinman, editor of Beer Marketer’s Insights.

Anheuser-Busch reported a drop of 10% in sales in the U.S. in the second quarter and attributed much of that to a steep drop in Bud Light sales after conservatives declared a boycott against the brand. Sales to U.S. retailers dropped by 14% in the second quarter, while U.S. sales to wholesalers fell by 15%.

The PR nightmare began when transgender TikTok influencer Dylan Mulvaney posted on Instagram about a partnership with Bud Light to publicize its March Madness marketing campaign. Critics lambasted the beer brand, and the furor increased when comments from a marketing executive mocking the brand's traditional fan base resurfaced on social media.

Mulvaney has since accused the company of abandoning the influencer while critics attacked the marketing campaign. Anheuser-Busch has fired some marketing executives and also initiated layoffs of corporate employees in the U.S.

While executives at the company have said it is confident sales will recover eventually, some distributors have been quoted as saying the brand will not recover from the boycott.

Bud Light has also lost the title of the best-selling beer in the U.S. after reigning for over two decades.

Here's more about the decline in Bud Light sales:

Bud Light boycott weighs on AB InBev U.S. result www.youtube.com

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LGBTQ activists complain companies are caving to backlash against Pride Month: 'They're scared to death'



LGBTQ activists and creators are complaining that companies are caving to conservative pressure and are "ghosting" them when it comes to lucrative collaboration deals they're used to having.

A report from Georgia Public Broadcasting interviewed several LGBTQ activists who said companies were shying away from supporting them this year.

"It's just been a really stark contrast from years before," said MI Leggett, a New York-based, non-binary designer behind a gender-fluid sustainable clothing company. "Every single year, my friends and I and my colleagues always get these additional jobs."

The report goes on to cite the backlash against Bud Light's marketing stunt with transgender TikTok influencer Dylan Mulvaney and the recent boycott against Target over its partnership with an LGBTQ creator who also promoted satanism.

Daniel Korschun, an associate professor of marketing at Drexel University, said the controversy around these LGBTQ partnerships is causing companies to reconsider their priorities.

"Companies are reevaluating all of their sponsorships and partnerships, and they're trying to foresee those that might cause the most controversy," he explained, "and I think they're pulling back on those."

Non-binary TikTok creator Hina Sabatine said that only smaller companies were asking for partnerships about Pride Month, "not as many big corporations."

University of Michigan business professor Erik Gordon said companies are frightened of the backlash.

"They're scared to death," Gordon said to GPB. "I think some companies are whispering their support into sympathetic ears, whereas last year and the year before they were standing on top of the mountain with a megaphone. If that's your approach this year, you need less creative work ... you need a smaller group of influencers."

He added that companies may be shifting their donations in order to be less visible about their support.

Leggett said LGBTQ activists have come to depend on the income from companies during Pride Month.

"We as queer people in business and in the entertainment industry, all kind of rely on this every year, and kind of counted for our budgeting," said Leggett.

"I don't mean to say that rainbow capitalism and corporate support is queer liberation in any way at all," Leggett added.

Sabatine said that in a typical Pride Month, it's normal to earn $120,000 in partnerships but that this year that amount had been cut in half.

The non-binary activist said the main issue was not about the money.

"They do have such an important piece in shaping our culture and the way that the public perceives certain issues," Sabatine concluded.

Here's more about the backlash against Pride Month:

Pride Month From a Conservative Perspective www.youtube.com

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Rasmussen poll finds majority of Americans support boycott of Bud Light over transgender promotion



A survey conducted by Rasmussen Reports found that a majority of Americans support a boycott of Bud Light over its transgender controversy.

The telephone and online survey found 40% of American adults saying the Anheuser-Busch transgender promotion would make them less likely to buy Bud Light. Only 19% said the promotion would make them more likely to purchase the beer, and another 37% said it would make no difference to them.

When asked directly if they supported the boycott of Anheuser-Busch products, far more respondents showed their animosity for the transgender marketing.

54% of those respondents said they either strongly support or somewhat support the boycott, while only 30% said they strongly oppose or somewhat oppose the boycott.

The poll also found a profound generation gap among respondents. A surprising 33% of those aged between 18 and 39 said they were more likely to drink the beer because of the promotion, the largest percentage of support among three age demographics.

Only 6% of those aged 65 years and older said the promotion would make them more likely to buy Bud Light, while 12% of those aged 40 to 64 years old said they were favorable to the ad.

Image Source: Rasmussen Reports Twitter video screenshot

Of the youngest demographic, 26% said they were less likely to purchase Bud Light, while those in the 40-64-year-old group were the least favorable to the ad with 53% saying they were less likely to purchase Bud Light.

The survey also found that a slight majority, 52% of respondents, believed that major corporations are paying too much attention to transgender issues. Only 18% said they were not paying enough attention to transgender issues.

The margin of error for the poll was +/- three percentage points.

Here's more about the Bud Light controversy:

Fans aren't buying Budweiser's new commercial after Transgender controversy www.youtube.com

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