Bud Light is no longer the top-selling beer brand in the United States amid a boycott over the company’s decision to produce a promotional beer can for transgender influencer Dylan Mulvaney.
Industry figures provided to Newsweek show that Modelo Especial’s sales topped $333 million in the four weeks that ended on May 28, compared with Bud Light’s $297 million. The Bud Light numbers represent a 22.8 percent drop year-over-year, while Modelo’s sales are up 15.6 percent in the same time period, figures from Circana and IRI show.
Inside the United States, Modelo is owned by Constellation Brands. Outside, it is owned by Anheuser-Busch InBev, which also makes Bud Light. Several years ago, U.S. regulators forced AB InBev to sell Modelo’s American business to preserve competition in the market.
Bill Newlands, the chief executive officer of Constellation Brands, told Newsweek that the four-week spike in sales had happened “quicker than we had anticipated.”
“We thought that would take a little longer,” he continued to say. “We’ve been very fortunate that that’s gone a little quicker than we had anticipated. But what a great position to be in on the beer side.”
Bud Light is still the No. 1-selling beer in the United States year to date, in spite of the boycott, which started in early April, and consecutive weeks of sales declines. According to Nielsen IQ data that was provided to CNN and other outlets this week, Bud Light made up 35.1 percent of all U.S. beer sales through May 27, beating out Coors Light, which has about 21.6 percent of the market.
In the past week, however, data shows that Bud Light’s sales are continuing to slide, while AB InBev’s stock is down about 17 percent since the boycott and backlash erupted. In the week ending May 27, Bud Light dropped nearly 24 percent from a year ago, while the week before that saw a decline of 25.7 percent, data from Bump Williams Consulting shows, according to Yahoo.
“Another week of very weak trends for Bud Light indicates that tracked channels may be reaching a point of stabilization, albeit at significantly lower levels for Anheuser-Busch InBev than prior to the controversy,” analysts with Evercore said, according to Yahoo.
