Decades of dominance has come to a rather swift end as Modelo Especial leapfrogged Bud Light to become the U.S. highest selling beer as a right-wing led boycott has eaten into sales for weeks.
Bud Light (BUDFF) saw another double digit drop in sales during the week ended June 3, falling 24% year-over-year, according to data consulting firm Bump Williams.
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Modelo Especial, which is made by Constellation Brands (STZ), now represents 8.4% of U.S. retail-store beer sales compared to 7.3% for Bud Light.
Bud Light started the year with a 10.3% market share and had 10% of the market as recently as March 25, but the beer has seen a steady decline after offending loyal customers by hiring transgender influencer Dylan Mulvaney as a spokesperson.
Unlike many online controversies, the backlash against Bud Light has been a sustained campaign that has been picked up by some of the biggest right-wing social media personalities on Twitter.
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Boycotts against Bud Light have become a rallying cry for the right's war against "woke" -- a loosely defined term that seems to encapsulate everything that is politically left of center -- and the battle against the company could weigh on AB InBev's stock for the foreseeable future.
Budweiser's next earnings release isn't for another seven weeks, scheduled for August 3, so the full financial impact won't be known for some time, but the extent of the brand's downturn has probably taken the company by some surprise, based on comments in the company's May earnings release.
"With respect to the current situation and the impact of Bud Light sales, it is too early to have a full view -- Bud Light's volume decline... would represent around 1% of our overall global volumes for that period," CEO Michel Doukeris said on the company's earnings call.
"With this perspective and in the context of our global business, we believe we have the experience, the resources and the partners to manage this."
AB InBev shares have shown signs of recovery recently and was up more than 2% in early market trading Wednesday.
