Former President Trump said Tuesday that Bud Light paid the price for a controversial partnership with a transgender influencer that depressed the beer brand’s sales last year, and also threatened to release a list of “woke” companies. Ta.
In a post on Truth Social, President Trump called Bud Light’s ad featuring TikTok star Dylan Mulvaney a “colossal mistake.”
“And while Anheuser-Busch is not a walk-in company, I can give you a hefty price for that,” he wrote. “We are currently compiling a list and may share it with the world.”
“Why? The radical left is doing it with malicious intent against well-run conservative businesses and against our people,” Trump continued. “It’s so bad, but that’s how they play the game!”
The beer giant faced considerable criticism last year after releasing an ad featuring Mulvaney, with many vowing to boycott Bud Light. Anheuser-Busch InBev, the parent company of Budweiser and Bud Light, sent personalized Bud Light cans to a number of social media influencers, including Mulvaney, who identifies as female.
The backlash was immediate, and some stores were forced to give out free Bud Light. The company also resorted to buying back unsold, expired beer from wholesalers.
Shortly thereafter, Modelo Especial overtook Bud Light to become the No. 1 selling beer brand in dollar terms for the four-week and single-week period ending June 3, 2023.
Bud Light still struggles to bring back customers.
Beer sales fell 29.9% year over year for the week ending Jan. 20, according to the latest numbers provided to FOX Business by Bump Williams Consulting, which analyzed Nielsen IQ data.
To win back customers, the brand created a 60-second ad that will air during the Super Bowl this Sunday. The campaign, dubbed “Easy Night Out,” focuses on a group of friends who encounter a wish-granting “Bud Light Genie” during a night out, including a Bud Light that magically appears. is guessing.
The group brings together a star-studded cast, including NFL Hall of Famer Peyton Manning, singer and rapper Post Malone, and UFC CEO Dana White.
President Trump praised Anheuser-Busch in a social media post, saying the company employs 65,000 Americans (1,500 of them veterans) and collects millions of dollars in scholarships while calling it a “great… It spends $700 million a year on farmers.
“Isn’t Anheuser-Busch a great American brand that deserves a second chance?” he wrote. “What do you think? Maybe we should go after the companies that are trying to destroy America instead.”
The campaign of Nikki Haley, who is running against Trump for the Republican presidential nomination, criticized her for focusing on beer makers rather than issues facing Americans.
“Sixty percent of his family is living paycheck to paycheck, and yet Donald Trump is rambling on about beer companies,” said Annemarie Graham, a spokeswoman for Haley. “Nikki Haley is running to make America normal again.”
Anheuser-Busch did not immediately respond to FOX Business’ request for comment.
FOX Business’ Breck Dumas and Daniella Genovese contributed to this report.
