Bud Light boycott likely cost Anheuser-Busch InBev over $1 billion in lost sales

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The world’s largest brewer may have lost as much as $1.4 billion in sales because of the backlash to its brief partnership with a transgender influencer to promote Bud Light beer.

Anheuser-Busch InBev (BUD) reported record revenues for 2023 Thursday but said its “full growth potential was constrained” by its US business, where sales were hurt by a boycott of Bud Light over a sponsored Instagram post with Dylan Mulvaney.

In North America, organic revenue, seen as the best measure of operating performance, plunged $1.4 billion last year as beer sales by volume tumbled in the region, primarily due to a decline in Bud Light sales in the United States. Beer makes up the lion’s share of AB InBev’s revenue.

Bud Light sales tanked after the company’s partnership with Mulvaney last April sparked an anti-trans backlash and calls for a boycott. A tepid response to the controversy from the company also angered LGBTQ+ advocates.

The firestorm saw Mexican lager Modelo Especial dethrone Bud Light the following month as America’s top-selling beer, a title the brand had held for more than two decades.

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