Bud Light is No Longer America’s Top-Selling Beer
Modelo Especial has quietly overtaken Anheuser-Busch InBev’s Bud Light as the nation’s top-selling beer. It comes after a boycott that followed the promotion of the former market leader by a transgender activist.
- Modelo, which is owned by Constellation Brands in America, captured 8.4% of U.S. retail-store beer sales in the four weeks ended June 3, compared with 7.3% for Bud Light, The Wall Street Journal reported, citing an analysis of Nielsen data by consulting firm Bump Williams. Modelo is actually owned by Anheuser-Busch in other regions outside the U.S.
- Bud Light’s sales dropped about 24% in the week ended June 3, compared with the same week last year, Bump Williams found. Sales of other Anheuser-Busch brands, including Budweiser and Michelob Ultra, have also declined.
- The drop follows an April 1 Instagram post by transgender social-media influencer Dylan Mulvaney, who showed off a personalized can of Bud Light the company sent her as a gift.
What’s Next: The continued decline through May is a worry for Bud Light distributors during what they say is a key period between Memorial Day and the Fourth of July, according to the Journal.
—Janet H. Cho