Anheuser-Busch Inbev said Tuesday that revenue growth in most of its global regions was offset by a drop in North American sales, in a sign of continuing fallout from a promotion with a transgender influencer that cost it sales.
The world’s largest brewer and parent company of Bud Light said adjusted earnings for the latest quarter rose 4.1% to $5.4 billion on revenues that climbed 5% to $15.6 billion.
Revenue in the United States for the July-September period, however, tumbled 13.5%. AB InBev, based in Leuven, Belgium, noted that sales to retailers were down “primarily due to the volume decline of Bud Light.”
Bud Light sales plunged amid a conservative backlash after the brand sent a commemorative can to transgender influencer Dylan Mulvaney in early April.
I live in LA and go out to bars in West Hollywood occasionally. Most people at gay bars order cocktails, since they are dancing and don’t want heavy stomachs; but the beer choices are typically Bud brands, and people order them. The liquor stores in West Hollywood sell Budweiser, as do the grocery stores. The restaurants there have Bud brands on tap or in bottles.
Gay people do drink Bud Light. Maybe not the same percentages or amounts as MAGA Bros, but they do drink it.