Bud Light Sales Collapse Hits Beer Maker’s Earnings

( Breitbart )

Anheuser-Busch InBev on Thursday reported a big drop in profit for the second quarter, coming on the back of poor Bud Light sales and the backlash over a shared campaign with transgender influencer Dylan Mulvaney.

AP reports the world’s largest brewer said revenue in the United States declined by 10.5 percent in the April-to-June period year-on-year, “primarily due to the volume decline of Bud Light.”

In dollar terms, revenue fell $395 million in North America during the period, compared to the same time a year ago, and came after the company initially tried to downplay the hit it took by associating with Mulvaney.

As a consequence it lost its place as America’s best-selling beer after more than two decades, slipping into second place in June behind Mexican lager Modelo Especial, which is also owned by the Belgium-based ABInBev.

The company faced a national backlash in April after sending a commemorative Bud Light can to Mulvaney, a former gay man who now claims to be a woman, who posted it to millions of social media followers, as Breitbart News reported.

The move quickly became a public relations meltdown — and sales fiasco — for the brand and its various other partners.

The beer giant said overall revenue rose 7.2 percent in the second quarter, to $15.1 billion, from the same period a year ago as global brands such as Stella Artois and Corona made up for the loss in Bud Light sales, the company said in a statement.

It confirmed normalized earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization rose five percent to $4.9 billion.

The profit drop announcement came just 48-hours after Anheuser-Busch revealed it has laid off almost two percent of its U.S. workforce, eliminating 360 jobs, as Breitbart News reported.