Anheuser-Busch is reportedly planning to redesign the packaging for some Budweiser and Bud Light products as the brands' sales continue to slump in the wake of the company's contentious relationship with Dylan Mulvaney. According to reports, the packaging redesign will be temporary as the brand continues to bounce back from its recent lows.
According to a source who spoke to New York Post, the temporary redesign of Bud and Bud Light's aluminum bottles will feature a camouflage print, which would be a tribute to the 'Folds of Honor' charity that provides scholarships to the children of fallen and disabled service members and first responders.
New Look for Image Rebuilding
According to sources briefed on the situation, the decision was taken last week at a meeting with distributors held at its US headquarters in St. Louis to discuss its strategy for dealing with the Mulvaney backlash, the outlet reported.
According to a distributor who wished to remain anonymous, one of the new initiatives planned is a temporary redesign of its Budweiser and Bud Light aluminum bottles.
The "Folds of Honor" program, which offers educational scholarships to children and spouses of the fallen and disabled American military service personnel and first responders, will be featured on bottles made by Anheuser-Busch, the CEO said.
The plan for the reported redesign comes as the brewing behemoth's main Bud Light brand continues to suffer a steep decline in sales.
According to data from Bump Williams Consulting, Bud Light, the bestselling beer in the US for the longest time, witnessed a 23.6 percent decline in sales for the week that concluded on May 6 compared to the same period last year.
This was in line with the previous week's 23.3 percent year-over-year decline, which indicates a worrying trend for the brewery if the backlash continues.
Even if the decline in sales of other Anheuser-Busch products was slower than the previous week, it nonetheless persisted. These were Budweiser, which is down 9.7 percent compared to an 11.4 percent decline the prior week, Michelob Ultra, which fell 2.9 percent compared to 4.3 percent, and Natural Light, which fell 2.5 percent compared to 5.2 percent the prior week.
While Anheuser-Busch grapples with the fallout over its disastrous partnership with transgender influencer Dylan Mulvaney that debuted on April 1, competitor beer brands competing brands are gaining market share at a faster pace.
Backlash Continues
Bud Light faced outrage from conservatives after transgender celebrity Mulvaney shared a video of herself opening a Bud Light on her Instagram profile on April 1.
Mulvaney displayed a Bud Light can with her face on it, one of many corporate gifts she receives and disperses to her millions of fans via brand alliances.
Anheuser-Busch came under fire from various country music stars after musician Kid Rock tweeted a video of himself shooting cases of Bud Light three days after Mulvaney's post, accusing the company of getting involved in political and cultural matters.
On the other side of the debate, several pro-LGBT activists have criticized Anheuser-Busch for appearing to repudiate the Mulvaney partnership and abandon the trans influencer to deal with the reaction alone.
A number of homosexual clubs have decided to stop selling Bud Light and other Anheuser-Busch goods for of the way the company handled the situation.
Within a few weeks after the controversy, two Anheuser-Busch marketing officials took a leave of absence.
The European parent company of Bud Light announced earlier this month that it will increase its marketing expenditures in the US this summer in an effort to boost declining sales.
However, Anheuser-Busch InBev CEO Michel Doukeris similarly downplayed the impact of the backlash in a call with investors, claiming that the sales decline for Bud Light in the US during the first three weeks of April constituted barely 1 percent of InBev's global volumes.
On the investor call, Doukeris made no mention of Mulvaney but lamented the 'misinformation' spread about the promotion. For instance, he said that the Mulvaney-themed cans were intended as a gift for the influencer rather than for general sale.
