After more than 20 years at the top of the beer charts, Bud Light retail sales in the United States have taken a dive at the same time the brand is facing criticism over featuring a social media star who is transgender in an advertisement.
“This is sort of uncharted waters for a brand like that when it comes to seven weeks of sharp declines of that magnitude,’ said Dave Williams, vice-president of analytics for Bump Williams Consulting, which focuses on the alcoholic beverage industry.
The brand has faced negative reaction in the United States since an early April video where transgender TikTok star Dylan Mulvaney promoted the brand and held up personalized commemorative cans featuring her face. Some politicians and celebrities in the United States reacted angrily to beer brand featuring a transgender spokesperson.
While it’s impossible to directly connect Bud Light’s drop in sales to a single Instagram video highlighting a trans spokesperson, Williams said that since April, sales have been declining for Bud Light while other brands have gained traction. The data are not publicly available.
Beer industry analyst Dave Williams thinks the culture war over trans inclusion in a beer ad is harmful to the industry as a whole. (CBC)
Williams’s firm analyzed data from Nielsen IQ and found dollar sales of Bud Light at U.S. retail outlets had dropped by more than 24 per cent in the week ending June 3, compared to the year before. Mexican lager Modelo Especial took over the top spot from Bud Light.
“I certainly see a correlation between, you know, some of the backlash that we saw online … with the recent accelerated declines in sales,” said Williams.
Williams and other industry watchers are characterizing the fall in sales as likely tied to a conservative backlash — and ensuing fallout — over the inclusion of LGBTQ groups in an advertisement, even though beer companies have leveraged gay, lesbian, bisexual and gender-diverse communities in marketing for years.
Dylan Mulvaney’s Instagram video with Bud Light included her showing off promotional cans with her face on them. The cans did not appear to be for sale and only appeared in the video. (dylanmulvaney/Instagram)
Bud Light wasn’t ‘prepared’ for backlash: marketer
The backlash — and the resulting drop in sales — may have caught Bud Light and its parent company AB InBev off guard, according to a Toronto-based marketer.
“Bud Light has always supported and actually comes after queer consumers,” explained Scott Knox, founder of industry group Pride in Advertising and Marketing, who said that after the backlash to a trans spokesperson erupted online, Bud Light’s response was “lukewarm” and didn’t appear decisive, for either heterosexual or LGBTQ audiences.
“What that signaled was they weren’t prepared and they weren’t ready to deal with any potential backlash because it was a trans performer, ” said Knox.
Rainbows fly alongside Bud Light beer, as it’s advertised on a float in the WeHo Pride Parade in West Hollywood, California on June 4. (Damian Dovarganes/AP)
The company’s response has not directly addressed or apologized for the video. But one of the executives responsible has taken a leave of absence, and the company issued a press release where it said “we never intended to be part of a discussion that divides people.”
To marketers such as Knox, Bud Light should have taken a more firm stance after the backlash started.
Scott Knox of Pride in Advertising and Marketing says Bud Light goes after LGBTQ customers but had a ‘lukewarm’ response to the backlash against the Dylan Mulvaney advertisement. (James Dunne/CBC)
While a portion of its customer base was demonstrating anger in online videos, some of which featured celebrities shooting Bud Light with firearms, another portion of the customer base may have been upset at Bud Light taking a muted stance.
“When you do speak to any diverse community, you have to be ready to do it, and if there’s a backlash, you double down. Otherwise you end up annoying both sides … those who are part of that [diverse] community and those are part of the wider general and in this case, heterosexual community,” he told CBC News.
Beer companies ‘pouring rainbows’ for years
Alcohol manufacturers have been marketing beer to LGBTQ communities directly for years, with event sponsorships at Pride festivals across North America, and ads featuring gay, lesbian, bisexual and gender-nonconforming people.
For Syrus Marcus Ware, who teaches courses on gender and visual culture, this is a natural reflection of LGBTQ people being part of both the community and economy.
“Having a beer company directly market to queer and trans people says, hey, hold on, we actually recognize that you exist, that you’re part of our community, we want some of your dollars, but also, you know, you exist,” said Ware, who is an associate professor at McMaster University.
Syrus Marcus Ware, associate professor at McMaster University, says that his issue with ‘neutrality’ when it comes to representing diverse groups in ads is that it presumes straight is neutral. (Anis Heydari/CBC)
According to Ware, ads that do not feature gender- or sexually diverse communities are exclusive, rather than being a marketing catch-all.
“The problem with the idea of neutrality is that we’re essentially saying that straight is neutral, that non-queer and non-trans people are neutral,” said Ware.
“I think we need to shift that and change that. Queer and trans people, straight people, we all are part of this community and this ecosystem.”
Some companies may be a bit reticent to put themselves forward in support of queer and trans communities going forward. That’s concerning for me.– Syrus Marcus Ware, McMaster University
Knox is on a similar page. Marketing to gender and sexually diverse communities isn’t new, and from a financial perspective can — and does — pay off.
“Look, all beer is queer, and it has been for over 10 years. Brands have been pouring rainbows out from pumps, cans in supermarkets, and bars across the world because the dollars from the queer community are there and on the table,” said Knox.
Bud Light ads have included LGBTQ consumers for years, with this 2007 ad targetting gay men. (AB InBev)
What’s next for Bud Light?
Bud Light’s parent company also owns Labatt Breweries of Canada, which responded to inquiries from CBC News about future plans with an emailed statement saying it remains committed to partnerships “forged over decades” across many commnunities, including LGBTQ groups.
“We continue to sponsor local Pride events as we have for years,” wrote the company.
While sales have been dropping in the past weeks, industry analysts like Dave Williams point out that Bud Light has been at the top of the game for years and may be able to recover if the controversy passes given the brand’s size and reach.
Bud Light also remains on top for the year to date, with more than half of 2023 to go.
“They’re the king for a reason, right? They’ve got the volume behind them,” said Williams, who added that the current culture war over trans inclusion in a beer ad is harmful to the industry.
“I don’t think it’s great for beer as a whole. Because beer in my mind is supposed to be a social beverage,” he said.
Coors Light, owned by Molson Canadian parent company Molson Coors, is a competing beer brand that has included LGBTQ groups in advertisements such as this one. (Molson Coors)
Ware is worried the Bud Light controversy will cast a chill over inclusive representation in the future.
“Some companies may be a bit reticent to put themselves forward in support of queer and trans communities going forward. That’s concerning for me,” he said.
However, Knox said the industry’s branding may not move away from rainbows entirely.
For example, a Molson Canadian ad that ran for part of the Stanley Cup playoffs featured a drag queen, though the ad only ran in Canada and not the United States. In a statement Molson said, “beer, wine and spirits companies like ours have supported Pride for decades” and will continue to do so “for decades to come.”
As for Bud Light, Knox speculated the company will try to find a way to keep all consumers happy when it comes to Pride marketing.
“What that means is they will do the basics … which is glitter and rainbows and maybe an occasional drag queen.”
HALIFAX – Ottawa is negotiating a $500-million bailout for Nova Scotia’s privately owned electric utility, saying the money will be used to prevent a big spike in electricity rates.
Federal Natural Resources Minister Jonathan Wilkinson made the announcement today in Halifax, saying Nova Scotia Power Inc. needs the money to cover higher costs resulting from the delayed delivery of electricity from the Muskrat Falls hydroelectric plant in Labrador.
Wilkinson says that without the money, the subsidiary of Emera Inc. would have had to increase rates by 19 per cent over “the short term.”
Nova Scotia Power CEO Peter Gregg says the deal, once approved by the province’s energy regulator, will keep rate increases limited “to be around the rate of inflation,” as costs are spread over a number of years.
The utility helped pay for construction of an underwater transmission link between Newfoundland and Nova Scotia, but the Muskrat Falls project has not been consistent in delivering electricity over the past five years.
Those delays forced Nova Scotia Power to spend more on generating its own electricity.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 16, 2024.
TORONTO – Roots Corp. may have built its brand on all things comfy and cosy, but its CEO says activewear is now “really becoming a core part” of the brand.
The category, which at Roots spans leggings, tracksuits, sports bras and bike shorts, has seen such sustained double-digit growth that Meghan Roach plans to make it a key part of the business’ future.
“It’s an area … you will see us continue to expand upon,” she told analysts on a Friday call.
The Toronto-based retailer’s push into activewear has taken shape over many years and included several turns as the official designer and supplier of Team Canada’s Olympic uniform.
But consumers have had plenty of choice when it comes to workout gear and other apparel suited to their sporting needs. On top of the slew of athletic brands like Nike and Adidas, shoppers have also gravitated toward Lululemon Athletica Inc., Alo and Vuori, ramping up competition in the activewear category.
Roach feels Roots’ toehold in the category stems from the fit, feel and following its merchandise has cultivated.
“Our product really resonates with (shoppers) because you can wear it through multiple different use cases and occasions,” she said.
“We’ve been seeing customers come back again and again for some of these core products in our activewear collection.”
Her remarks came the same day as Roots revealed it lost $5.2 million in its latest quarter compared with a loss of $5.3 million in the same quarter last year.
The company said the second-quarter loss amounted to 13 cents per diluted share for the quarter ended Aug. 3, the same as a year earlier.
In presenting the results, Roach reminded analysts that the first half of the year is usually “seasonally small,” representing just 30 per cent of the company’s annual sales.
Sales for the second quarter totalled $47.7 million, down from $49.4 million in the same quarter last year.
The move lower came as direct-to-consumer sales amounted to $36.4 million, down from $37.1 million a year earlier, as comparable sales edged down 0.2 per cent.
The numbers reflect the fact that Roots continued to grapple with inventory challenges in the company’s Cooper fleece line that first cropped up in its previous quarter.
Roots recently began to use artificial intelligence to assist with daily inventory replenishments and said more tools helping with allocation will go live in the next quarter.
Beyond that time period, the company intends to keep exploring AI and renovate more of its stores.
It will also re-evaluate its design ranks.
Roots announced Friday that chief product officer Karuna Scheinfeld has stepped down.
Rather than fill the role, the company plans to hire senior level design talent with international experience in the outdoor and activewear sectors who will take on tasks previously done by the chief product officer.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
VANCOUVER – Mediated talks between the union representing HandyDART workers in Metro Vancouver and its employer, Transdev, are set to resume today as a strike that has stopped most services drags into a second week.
No timeline has been set for the length of the negotiations, but Joe McCann, president of the Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1724, says they are willing to stay there as long as it takes, even if talks drag on all night.
About 600 employees of the door-to-door transit service for people unable to navigate the conventional transit system have been on strike since last Tuesday, pausing service for all but essential medical trips.
Hundreds of drivers rallied outside TransLink’s head office earlier this week, calling for the transportation provider to intervene in the dispute with Transdev, which was contracted to oversee HandyDART service.
Transdev said earlier this week that it will provide a reply to the union’s latest proposal on Thursday.
A statement from the company said it “strongly believes” that their employees deserve fair wages, and that a fair contract “must balance the needs of their employees, clients and taxpayers.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 12, 2024.
