After Bud Light dropped from being the No. 1 beer in America earlier this month, Anheuser-Busch CEO Brendan Whitworth responded to falling sales.
In a statement, Whitworth said Anheuser-Busch is "investing to protect the jobs" of its front-line employees impacted by the falling sales. The company also said it would provide financial assistance to its independent wholesalers to help them support their employees.
"We recognize that over the last two months, the discussion surrounding our company and Bud Light has moved away from beer, and this has impacted our consumers, our business partners, and our employees," Whitworth said.
"To all our valued consumers, we hear you. Our summer advertising launches next week, and you can look forward to Bud Light reinforcing what you’ve always loved about our brand — that it’s easy to drink and easy to enjoy," he added.
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Modelo Especial is now the nation's No. 1 selling beer, dethroning Bud Light for the first time since 2001 and further signaling that the recent protest against the brand isn't over, according to Nielsen data analyzed by Bump Williams.
For the past two months, conservative critics have slammed and boycotted the brand after it worked with transgender influencer Dylan Mulvaney.
On April 1, Mulvaney posted a sponsored video touting a Bud Light can with her picture on it and said the company sent it to her as she celebrated "day 365 of womanhood." She and Bud Light then became targets, mostly in conservative circles.
LGBTQ+ advocates have called on businesses to stand firm in their support of their rights.
“Recent pushback against businesses such as Anheuser-Busch and Target, blatantly organized by extremist groups, serves as a wake-up call for all businesses that support the LGBTQ+ community,” a letter from the 100 organizations, including GLAAD, read. “We’ve seen this extremist playbook of attacks before. Their goal is clear: to prevent LGBTQ+ inclusion and representation, silence our allies and make our community invisible. These attacks fuel hate against LGBTQ+ people, just as we’ve seen this year with more than 500 anti-LGBTQ+ bills that restrict basic freedoms and aim to erase LGBTQ+ people.”
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