Bud Light loses its title as the top selling beer in the US
Bud Light has officially been overtaken as the US' top-selling beer.
Days after announcing it's partnership with trans activist Dylan Mulvaney back in April, the beer brand's parent company Anheuser-Busch lost a whopping $5 billion (£4 billion).
And unfortunately for the brewing company, revenue isn't the only thing that seems to be slipping down for it either as Bud Light no longer holds the top spot for the most retail-store beer sales in the US, with it being overtaken by another brand in May.
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The drama began when Bud Light sent packs of beer with Mulvaney's face on it to the TikToker to celebrate it being a year since she first publicly came out as transgender.
Mulvaney uploaded a video of herself sipping the beer on social media, but the post caused backlash amongst some other Bud Light drinkers - see Kid Rock uploading a video of himself shooting cans of Bud with a rifle.
CEO of Anheuser-Busch, Brendan Whitworth, addressed the fall-out in a statement, reflecting on his responsibility in 'ensuring every consumer feels proud of the beer' Bud Light brews.
Whitworth stressed Bud Light 'never intended to be part of a discussion that divides people' and are in 'the business of bringing people together over a beer'.
Despite Whitworth's words, Bud Light has since fallen from its top spot as the favourite US beer brand - but the question is, which brand's overtaken it?
Bud Light has been kicked off its throne by Modelo Especial - a beer owned by Grupo Modelo, a large brewery in Mexico, which also includes export brands such as Corona and Pacifico.
By 3 June, Bud Light represented 7.3 percent of US retail-store beer sales across four weeks compared to Modelo, which represented 8.4 percent according to consulting firm Bump Williams' analysis of Nielsen data, cited in The Wall Street Journal.
Compared to the same week ending 3 June last year, Bud Light sales have declined 24 percent.
Anheuser-Busch has also seen it's market capitalisation decrease from $132 billion (£104 billion) to $127 (£100 million) - a fall of 4.7 percent - according to the Dow Jones Market Data Group.
Other brands under Anheuser-Busch - Budweiser and Michelob Ultra - have also seen decreased sales in the week ending 2 June, compared to the same time last year.
However, hope isn't completely lost for Bud Light making a comeback because, according to Anheuser-Busch, the brand still comes out in top spot if you look at which beer company had the best sales over the first five months of 2023.
UNILAD has contacted Bud Light for comment.
If you’ve been affected by any of these issues and want to speak to someone in confidence contact Mindline Trans+ on 0300 330 5468. The line is open 8pm–midnight Mondays and Fridays and is run by trans volunteers
Topics: US News, Food and Drink, Transgender, Money, Business
Poppy Bilderbeck