Bud Light has been dethroned as the most popular beer in America following a controversial marketing collaboration with transgender activist Dylan Mulvaney.
Parent company Anheuser-Busch, which some have begun calling “Transheuser-Busch” following recent controversy over marketing, sold $297 million worth of Bud Light in May, according to consumer data obtained by CBS News. This marks a 23% drop from last year.
The brand was overtaken by Modelo Especial as the top-selling beer in America. Modelo’s sales are up 15% from last year, having sold $333 million worth of beer in May.
“Unless Bud Light starts to experience a serious course correction in terms of performance, which can only come from consumers finding their way back into the brand family, then that firm grip on the No.1 rank by year-end loosens a bit more every week,” Dave Williams, a vice president at Bump Williams Consulting, told CBS News.
While Anheuser-Busch also owns Modelo in most of the world, the beer is owned by Constellation Brands in the United States, having purchased it from Anheuser-Busch in 2013.
A Constellation spokesperson told CBS the company intends to further grow Modelo sales by introducing the beer “to new consumers through increased distribution and presence at retail.”
Bud Light sales have plummeted since consumers began boycotting the brand after a social media marketing promotion with Dylan Mulvaney — a popular online figure identifying as a transgender woman.
Since partnering with Mulvaney, Anheuser-Busch has lost $27 billion in market value.
As previously reported by The Dallas Express, the Bud Light is selling so poorly that Anheuser-Busch has offered to buy back unsold expired stock from wholesalers.
Furthermore, Republican Senator Ted Cruz of Texas has called for a formal investigation into Bud Light’s partnership with Mulvaney.
“The evidence … overwhelmingly shows that Dylan Mulvaney’s audience skews significantly younger than the legal drinking age and violates the Beer Institute’s Advertising/Marketing Code and Buying Guidelines,” according to Cruz and Senator Masha Blackburn (R-TN).