Bud Light Bar Pours Drop 6 Percent Amid Dylan Mulvaney Backlash

Restaurant pours of Bud Light dropped below those of Coors Light in the weeks following Anheuser-Busch's controversial partnership with transgender influencer Dylan Mulvaney.

Bud Light and parent company Anheuser-Busch have faced backlash since partnering with Mulvaney this month. The influencer, who has 1.8 million followers on Instagram, posted a video on April 1 showing off a personalized can of Bud Light with her face on it to commemorate 365 days of being a woman.

In response, several conservative voices called to boycott the beer brand altogether, vowing a switch to Coors Light, whose parent company Molson Coors Beverage Co., saw a stock market boost in the weeks following Mulvaney's post, while Anheuser-Busch's stock price dipped.

According to data compiled by BeerBoard, a technology company that works with thousands of restaurants and bars nationwide to monitor their alcohol flow, Bud Light trailed other light lagers by 6 percent during the nearly two-week span following Mulvaney's post. In the weeks prior to the partnership, Bud Light outperformed its fellow light lagers by 15 percent, BeerBoard reported.

Overall, Bud Light dipped in ranking from third- to fourth-highest rate of sale in the immediate aftermath of Mulvaney's partnership, with Coors Light swapping places with Bud Light since the controversy.

Data compiled by NielsenIQ and Bump Williams Consulting previously found that Bud Light's volume of sales dropped overall by 11 percent in the first week of the boycott, ending on April 8, and another 21 percent in the following week, ending on April 15. The finding was celebrated by several conservative figures online, including Eric Deters, Kentucky Republican gubernatorial candidate, who described the revenue dip as the results of a "DEVASTATING BOYCOTT."

It's unclear if the boycott, which has been supported by conservative figures like musician Kid Rock and Missouri Republican state Senator Nick Schroer, will have lasting impact on Bud Light. In a survey conducted by Redfield & Wilton Strategies on behalf of Newsweek, 12 percent of Bud Light drinkers said they no longer planned to buy the beer brand as a result of Mulvaney's partnership. The overwhelming majority of respondents, however, said that the controversy would not influence their decision to buy the beer.

Two top executives at Anheuser-Busch have been placed on leave since the marketing campaign, including Alissa Heinerscheid, Bud Light's marketing chief, and Daniel Blake, a vice president who oversees marketing for mainstream brands.

In an interview with Financial Times on Monday, Anheuser-Busch CEO Michel Doukeris said that he didn't think "the company should be out there and talking about everything."

"I am a little bit shy, let's say, as a CEO, so I don't talk a lot," he added.

Newsweek has reached out to Anheuser-Busch via email for comment.