Anheuser-Busch Inbev said Tuesday that revenue growth in most of its global regions was offset by a drop in North American sales, in a sign of continuing fallout from a promotion with a transgender influencer that cost it sales.

The world’s largest brewer and parent company of Bud Light said adjusted earnings for the latest quarter rose 4.1% to $5.4 billion on revenues that climbed 5% to $15.6 billion.

Revenue in the United States for the July-September period, however, tumbled 13.5%. AB InBev, based in Leuven, Belgium, noted that sales to retailers were down “primarily due to the volume decline of Bud Light.”

Bud Light sales plunged amid a conservative backlash after the brand sent a commemorative can to transgender influencer Dylan Mulvaney in early April.

  • @pulaskiwasright@lemmy.ml
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    582 years ago

    I wonder what percentage of people who would be put off by Budweiser caving to bigots so quickly would actually regularly drink Budweiser in the first place?

    • @ElderWendigo@sh.itjust.works
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      682 years ago

      Have you seen the way those hipsters guzzle PBR? Do you really think it tastes any better than Budweiser? Image is EVERYTHING when you’re selling cheap beer. Budweiser could have cemented its place as a progressive all-inclusive all-american beer. Instead they gave in to the bullies, an act that no bully can respect.

      • @pulaskiwasright@lemmy.ml
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        152 years ago

        Selling hipsters on a basically dead beer like PBR would be easier than getting them to drink the most mainstream of beers.

      • @jjjalljs@ttrpg.network
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        72 years ago

        I don’t think hipsters have been into pbr for like ten years, but it’s possible I’ve just aged out of hipster circles.

        • @SheeEttin@lemmy.world
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          42 years ago

          Hipsters aren’t really A Thing any more. Sure there are people who still act like that about stuff, but I don’t really see anyone making it their whole personality any more. It’s gone back to individual niches.

        • LousyCornMuffins
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          22 years ago

          We’re all about Pliny out here. I don’t know if I can afford to be a hipster anymore tho

        • @captainlezbian@lemmy.world
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          22 years ago

          It’s more of “if you want a dirt cheap beer and theoretically could be a hipster”. Like I drink it when I’m looking for something cheaper than a local ale/lager and not liquor. It’s ok. Light beer is rarely worth it to me though. It’s too flavorless, if I want something with that few calories I just get whiskey

    • themeatbridge
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      262 years ago

      The people who drink Budweiser and Bud Light are the people who buy cheap beer. Whether it’s at a bar or stocking up for a party, it’s like buying chips or pizza, you aren’t thinking too hard about it. Miller or Busch or PBR or Coors or Old Style or Michelob or any other roughly equivalent beer (half of which are also owned by AB) works just as well. Budweiser gave people a reason to think about their beer, and didn’t give anyone a reason to think positively about their beer. If you are looking at the available options, and one of them is associated with bigotry, you’re going to pick anything else.

    • @orclev@lemmy.world
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      192 years ago

      A vanishingly small percentage. The kind of people that care about inclusivity and LGBTQ+ rights aren’t the kind of people that drink Budweiser. Their core demographic skews very heavily to the dude bro side of things. They pissed off a significant chunk of their existing customers, and then by immediately backtracking lost any potential new customers they might have picked up. They basically made the worst possible set of decisions they could have.

      • @SCB@lemmy.world
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        192 years ago

        The kind of people that care about inclusivity and LGBTQ+ rights aren’t the kind of people that drink Budweiser

        It’s so weird that people actually think this is true.

        • @orclev@lemmy.world
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          92 years ago

          I can count on one hand with fingers left over the number of people I know who drink Bud or Bud Light, and every last one of them is deeply conservative.

          • @SCB@lemmy.world
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            72 years ago

            Oh well if you’ve got such hard-hitting science behind you I guess I just look silly.

            • @orclev@lemmy.world
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              2 years ago

              I mean I’ve provided just as much data as you have. Your stance is “it’s weird people think this”, and my response is that’s because that’s what people experience. Obviously if everyone you know who drinks Bud is conservative, you’re going to associate those two. I’ve never seen anything to suggest that isn’t the case, and you’ve provided no evidence to counter that either.

              • @SCB@lemmy.world
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                2 years ago

                Budweiser products have a level of market share (still, even today, after a fairly big hit) that defies political leanings. Their market share was hurt by both political reactions to this complete non-issue of a marketing idea.

                The politicization of beer is dumb, as a general rule.

                Gays and straights, rich and poor, people just drink beer they like (and, often, can afford to drink in bulk)

                • @orclev@lemmy.world
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                  12 years ago

                  Hmm, I wonder if there’s a geographical component to this. I live in the US southeast, and just about the only time I actually see people drinking beer is during large family gatherings or at large sporting events (both with a depressingly large conservative contingent). Maybe if you live in the north or a college town you experience a more varied group of beer drinkers. On the rare occasions I do see a non-conservative drinking a beer it’s almost always some kind of IPA or “fancy” beer, often from a microbrewery. In general though, beer just isn’t a very popular alcoholic beverage in my experience, with wines or liquors being far more popular. Even in college most people I knew would drink rum, vodka, or some kind of hard cider rather than a beer.

                  • @ABCDE@lemmy.world
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                    22 years ago

                    In general though, beer just isn’t a very popular alcoholic beverage in my experience, with wines or liquors being far more popular.

                    What are you on about, just stop.

          • @Trainguyrom@reddthat.com
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            22 years ago

            My anecdata is similar. The only people I know who drink budd/miller/any other cheap crap beers also happen to be trump voters

    • @SCB@lemmy.world
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      142 years ago

      Bud Light sells at gay bars the same as any other beer lol

      Gay people are just normal people.

      • @captainlezbian@lemmy.world
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        42 years ago

        Yeah I think a lot of people think of us as more urbane and refined, and yes, I do definitely feel that our community and culture encourages that. But also I’ve met plenty of dudebro gay guys that would reach for a bud same as their friends. Hell I’ve met nonbinary folks who are as hick as it gets.

    • @captainlezbian@lemmy.world
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      62 years ago

      Yeah that’s the question. Like I’d’ve stopped buying their beer over them caving if I hadn’t stopped buying their beer over it tasting eerily similar to some nonalcoholic beers.

      If you cave to conservative backlash and stop supporting me then I stop supporting you.

    • Unaware7013
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      32 years ago

      I generally won’t drink Bud, but I used to tolerate it at shows just to get something alcoholic that wouldn’t break the bank. As is, I’d rather spend more than have two shitty tastes in my mouth…