Bud Light to buy back expired beer from wholesalers as Dylan Mulvaney marketing disaster continues to tank sales

Bud Light will be buying its beer back from wholesale retailers following the disastrous marketing campaign that celebrated trans-identified social media influencer Dylan Mulvaney becoming a so-called "woman", which backfired. Their sales plummeted due to a nationwide boycott of the brand by beer drinkers who didn't want to drink beer repped by a man who dresses as a woman and claims to be a girl.

Anheuser-Busch told wholesale retailers, who are furious with the company's marketing decision, that they would be buying back Bud Light products that have expired following the boycott, New York Post reports.



According to data from Bump Williams Consulting and NielsenIQ, Bud Light sales dropped 23.6 percent during the week of May 6, compared to the previous year. The week ending April 29, sales declined 23.3 percent, which shows that Bud Light sales remain on a steady decline.

Since the failed Dylan Mulvaney campaign, marketing executives have worked tirelessly to come up with ways to salvage Bud Light's tainted brand and told US beer distributors they will "spend heavily on the brand after spending fell off a cliff last year."

One of those marketing efforts included a temporary camo print redesign of some of its Bud Light and Budweiser packaging, although Bud Light customers eviscerated the company on social media for the gaffe.

Sales for other Anheuser-Busch brands have also been rocked by the Dylan Mulvaney controversy, with the latest results from Bump Williams Consulting and NielsenIQ data for the week ending April 29 showing: "Budweiser, down 9.7 percent versus an 11.4 percent drop a week earlier; Michelob Ultra, down 2.9 percent versus 4.3 percent; and Natural Light, down 2.5 percent versus 5.2 percent the previous week," according to the New York Post.

While Bud Light continues to see a steady decline in sales, the American beer giant's competitors are seeing sales spike. Pabst Blue Ribbon was up 21.6 percent in the week of May 6, compared to an 18.9 percent increase the previous week, the outlet reports.

Anheuser-Busch chief executive, Michel Doukeris has attempted to distance the company from the Mulvaney partnership and told investors during an earnings call last week, “We need to clarify the facts that this was one can, one influencer, one post and not a campaign."

The beer giant also blamed a third-party advertising agency following the fallout with the Mulvaney campaign, which failed to sit right with the LGBTQ community and resulted in further boycotts of the once-beloved brand.