Mulvaney partnership costs Bud Light its top spot in U.S. beer market

Bud Light is no longer the top selling beer in the United States. It’s a medal that now sits with Constellation Brands Inc’s (NYSE: STZ) Modelo Especial.

What resulted in a decline in Bud Light sales?

In the four weeks to June 3^rd, Bud Light saw its sales tank a whopping 24.6%.

Much of it was related to Anheuser-Busch InBev (EBR: ABI) partnering with Dylan Mulvaney – a transgender influencer on a marketing campaign that invoked conservatives into calling for a boycott.

Budweiser sales also dropped 9.2% in the aforementioned period. On the flip side, Modelo Special saw a 10.2% increase in sales, as per Bump William (a consulting company).  

AB InBev stock is down nearly 20% versus its year-to-date high at writing.

Overall sales are also slipping at AB InBev

Modelo Especial by Constellation Brands now makes up 8.4% of the total beer sales in the U.S. through retail stores.

Bud Light stood at the second spot in the four-week period with a market share of 7.3%. According to Jon Reynolds of the University of Vermont:

On Wednesday, data from NielsenIQ also confirmed a 12% decline in overall sales at AB InBev in the four weeks to May 20^th. Still, Wall Street has a consensus “overweight” rating on shares of the Belgian multinational drink and brewing company.