Transgender influencer Dylan Mulvaney slammed Bud Light for failing to offer support after a conservative boycott over the company’s partnership with Mulvaney cost it billions in market share.
“I was waiting for the brand to reach out to me, but they never did,” Mulvaney said in a Thursday Instagram video. “I’ve been scared to leave my house.”
Mulvaney’s criticism of the beer brand comes after the influencer collaborated with the company in April. The partnership was first made public on April 1, when Mulvaney revealed it on social media, showing a Bud Light can featuring the influencer’s face. Mulvaney also posted a video drinking Bud Light in a bathtub.
Mulvaney added that Bud Light’s lack of support for the social media personality is “worse than not hiring a trans person at all.”
A conservative boycott following the posts cost Bud Light its spot as America’s top beer. Bud Light was the second-best-selling beer in the four weeks leading up to June 3, making up 7.3 percent of U.S. retail-store beer purchases. Modelo took first place with 8.4 percent of sales, the Wall Street Journal reported. Bud Light’s sales overall are down around 24 percent for the week ending June 3 compared with the same timeframe last year. Parent company Anheuser-Busch’s market cap has fallen by $20 billion.
Many beer distributors expect the boycott to last a while, and some think it will be permanent. Sixty-five percent of distributors think the boycott will last another six months and 32 percent say it could be permanent, according to a survey from investment firm Jefferies Group.
Bud Light and other Anheuser-Busch brands have tried to win back disgruntled customers by running an ad campaign that appeals to a more patriotic and traditional audience. The company pledged to spend more money on marketing this summer.
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