Beer industry ‘in shock’ that Bud Light backlash continues, expert says
Beer Business Daily's Harry Schuhmacher says the rest of the beer industry can't believe how long the backlash to Bud Light's transgender influencer partnership has lasted, and it's had economic effects.
Some Bud Light salespeople are struggling as frustrated Americans are using "car horns, middle fingers and jokes" to mock the company during an ongoing boycott, according to a recent report from ABC News.
Many frontline Bud Light salespeople who rely on commission and are also losing out on business as a result of the boycott.
"This has really, really killed a lot of the guys who are commission-based. That's who it's really hurting," one supervisor told ABC News. "There's nothing they could've done -- this was thrown in their faces."
More than seven weeks have passed since Bud Light sales tanked after it was revealed that the company partnered with Dylan Mulvaney, a transgender influencer. Some stores have been forced to sell Bud Light for free as the backlash against Mulvaney continues, with Bud Light even resorting to buying back unsold, expired beer from wholesalers, according to The Wall Street Journal.
Bud Light continues to face backlash more than a month after its polarizing pact with transgender influencer Dylan Mulvaney prompted outrage. (Instagram)
The boycott is now causing pain all the way down the supply chain, sales supervisors and distributors for Bud Light told ABC News.
"Good people are going to start leaving because they aren't making money," former Anheuser-Busch InBev executive Anson Frericks told ABC News.
Anheuser-Busch InBev CEO Michel Doukeris also reportedly spoke directly to the difficulty that the boycott against Bud Light is causing to frontline employees.
STORES SELLING BUD LIGHT FOR FREE AS MULVANEY BACKLASH CONTINUES
ARCO, ID - APRIL 21: A sign disparaging Bud Light beer is seen along a country road on April 21, 2023 in Arco, Idaho. Anheuser-Busch, the brewer of Bud Light has faced backlash after the company sponsored two Instagram posts from a transgender woman.(Photo by Natalie Behring/Getty Images) (Natalie Behring/Seth Weathers)
"This situation has impacted our people and especially our frontline workers: The delivery drivers, sales representatives, our wholesalers, Bud owners and servers," Doukeris said.
Anheuser-Busch, the parent company of Bud Light, did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Fox News Digital.
At a recent meeting with Bud Light salespeople, the president of a distributor in the Midwest reportedly told employees that the boycott will hopefully end soon.
WOKE CORPORATE GOVERNANCE OFTEN STEMS FROM INVOLVED INVESTMENT FIRMS: FORMER ANHEUSER-BUSCH EXEC
"None of this is your fault and none of this is my fault," he said.
"I'm frustrated that this has [dragged] on as long as it has," the president of the distributor said. "I'm hopeful that we're moving in the right direction."
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Fox News’ Brian Flood contributed to this report.
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