Bud Light’s marketing stunt has knocked around $4 billion dollars off its parent company Anheuser-Busch’s market cap after a pro-transgender advertisement featuring Dylan Mulvaney caused a massive backlash.
On March 31st, Anheuser-Busch had a market capitalization of 132.38 billion dollars, its highest market cap all year.
Mulvaney’s Bud Light campaign was launched the next day on April 1.
By April 10th, that figure had dropped to $128.4 billion.
The stock is still falling, and if it keeps dropping, it could wipe out some recent gains.
Bud Light fans made their displeasure known over the campaign.
Kid Rock posted a video shooting cases of the beer the same day, telling the brand to f*ck off.
Country music star Travis Tritt soon followed and joined the boycott.
The backlash quickly spread, with bars, liquor stores, sports fans, and everyday Americans boycotting the brand.
Shortly before the campaign kicked off, VP of Marketing Alissa Gordon Heinerscheid trashed the beermaker’s customer base and vowed to make the brand more “woke.”
“I’m a businesswoman,” she said.
“I had a really clear job to do when I took over Bud Light, and it was this brand is in decline.
“It’s been in decline for a really long time.
“And if we do not attract young drinkers to come and drink this brand, there will be no future for Bud Light.
“So I had this super clear mandate.
“It’s like we need to evolve and elevate this incredibly iconic brand.
“What does evolve and elevate mean? It means inclusivity. It means shifting the tone.
“It means having a campaign that’s truly inclusive and feels lighter and brighter and different.
“And appeals to women and to men.”
On March 31, Anheuser Busch had a $132.38 billion market cap
As of today, it’s now $128.4 billion
You know what that means?
The Woke Bud Light campaign has already shaved off nearly **$4 BILLION** in company value
Don’t let Dems lie to you – Conservative Boycotts WORK pic.twitter.com/xLGbs6F1MV
— DC_Draino (@DC_Draino) April 10, 2023
Stock is up 44% in last 6 months tho pic.twitter.com/sjwgGZdV5a
— Richie🎥McG🍿 (@RichieMcGinniss) April 10, 2023
And down over 20% since 2019 pic.twitter.com/PhdcqMBh0H
— JD (@TooTrill4Thiss) April 10, 2023
Mulvaney fired back at critics during an appearance on Rosie O’Donnell’s podcast, saying:
“The reason that I think I am so.
“I’m an easy target is because I’m so new to this.
“I think going after a trans woman that’s been doing this for like 20 years is a lot more difficult.
“I think maybe they think that there’s some sort of chance with me.
“But what is their goal?
“These people, they don’t understand me and anything that I do or say then somehow gets taken out of context and is used against me and it’s so sad because everything I try to put out is positive.
“It’s trying to connect with others that maybe don’t understand me.
“It’s to make people laugh or to make a kid feel seen,” he said.
READ MORE: Dylan Mulvaney Fires Back at Bud Light Critics: ‘These People Don’t Understand Me’
