Bud Light Takes Biggest Plunge Yet, Tries Desperate New Move to Stem the Tide

When last we left the beleaguered Bud Light, they were trying to recover their audience with an ad that many thought made their customers look dumb. Probably not the best idea, although some thought it was funny. Their CEO pleaded with the American people saying “We hear you” and what they wanted to focus on was bringing people together over a beer. But then when they sponsored the Toronto Pride parade that had naked men walking down the street in front of children, they just made their situation worse. That only hardened people’s response to the brand when they saw that. Bud Light was only digging the hole deeper.

None of their efforts to resolve the issue have been working and now they’ve dropped nearly 28.5 percent in their biggest plunge so far for the week ending June 17, according to the most recent figures from Bump Williams Consulting and NielsenIQ, compared to the year before. The week before it was down 26.8 percent and the week before that it was down 24.4 percent.

So it seems like it’s only getting worse.

Not only was it affecting Bud Light, but it was still affecting other beers under the Anheuser-Busch line, with Budweiser down 12.3 percent, Busch Light down 8.1 percent, and Michelob Ultra down 4 percent.

Their competitors were also continuing to benefit from Bud Light’s mistakes, with Yeungling up 25.1 percent, Miller Lite up 16 percent, and Coors Light up 21.8 percent. Meanwhile, Modelo outsold Bud Light and has taken over the number one beer slot.

Bud Light is pulling out the same tactic that they tried over Memorial Day — rebates that could effectively make the beer free so they don’t lose the July 4th holiday.

Bud Light’s parent Anheuser-Busch, which offered the same promotion over the Memorial Day weekend, will again extend a $15 rebate for purchases of a 15-pack of Budweiser, Bud Light, Budweiser Select or Budweiser Select 55.

The rebate applies to purchases of up to $15 made between June 15 and July 8, according to the terms of service.

That Memorial Day move may have temporarily helped, but it didn’t stem the tide of the decline and I don’t think it’s going to do much to change things for July 4th. Bud Light is now a pariah brand all over the country and they’re not doing anything to change that.

But if the rebates weren’t a sign of them getting desperate enough to give away free beer, they’re now trying another tactic — bringing back the things that they think people liked in the past, like the Bud Knight. The Bud Light Twitter account highlighted, “Guess who’s back.”

Guess who's back https://t.co/Widjf6rDsD

— Bud Light (@budlight) June 26, 2023

The problem is they’re not “back” and people let them know it in their reactions to the post, with a huge ration on the Knight.

You traded your codpiece for yoga pants, your helmet for sunscreen, your gauntlets for opera gloves, and your plackart for a sports bra.

I’m thinking you’re done.

— Schadenfreudelish (@aggierican) June 26, 2023

I’ve got a list of Anheuser-Busch owned beers on the fridge purely to remind the wife not to buy them, and I’ll die of old age decades upon decades from now having refused you half a lifetime’s worth of whatever I spend on someone else’s beer.

Your name is profanity where I live

— Jiffy the GIFster (@JiffyGIFster) June 26, 2023

Our Townhall brothers responded.