Donald Trump has changed his stance on “woke” Bud Light, suggesting the beer deserves a “second chance,” just weeks ahead of a fundraiser organized by a lobbyist for the beer's parent company.
The presidential candidate called for an end to the Bud Light boycott sparked by trans activist Dylan Mulvaney's disastrous campaign
The former president said the partnership was a “mistake of epic proportions” for which “a very high price was paid.”
But he insisted that parent company Anheuser-Busch InBev is not a “woke company” and threatened to release a list of those that are.
His comments came ahead of a fundraiser organized by a major Republican lobbyist for the company in March, where tickets were sold for $10,000 apiece. Dozens of congressmen, Republican leaders and Donald Trump Jr. will take part in the event.
“Anheuser-Busch spends $700 million annually on our BIG farmers, employs 65,000 Americans, 1,500 of them veterans, and is a founding partner of Folds of Honor, which provides scholarships to families of fallen soldiers,” he wrote on the social media Platform Truth Social on Tuesday.
Donald Trump suggested that Bud Light deserved a “second chance” following the boycott of its beers that followed a partnership with trans influencer Dylan Mulvaney
Bud Light sales plummeted in early April 2023 due to a conservative backlash after the brand sent the transgender influencer a commemorative can
“They have raised over $30,000,000 and awarded 44,000 scholarships.” “Anheuser-Busch is a great American brand that perhaps deserves a second chance?”
'What do you think? Maybe we should instead target the companies that want to DESTROY AMERICA!' declared the former president.
His comments mark a significant departure from his previous stance in May, when he criticized the makers of Bud Light for pandering to the “radical left.”
Then Trump endorsed a conservative writer who called the ad campaign “a woke, clueless, incredibly stupid misjudgment.”
His departure comes exactly a month before his scheduled meeting with AB InBev lobbyist Jeff Miller, a close ally of former Speaker Kevin McCarthy, who is hosting a fundraiser for the presidential candidate in Washington DC
The brewing giant paid Miller's company $260,000 in 2023, according to lobbying disclosures seen by Politico.
Meanwhile, Trump is drowning in more than $76 million in legal fees resulting from various civil and criminal lawsuits.
Additionally, he faces an additional $83 million in defamation damages following E. Jean Carroll's monumental victory.
The former president said the Mulvaney partnership was a “mistake of epic proportions” for which a “very high price” was paid.
But he insisted that parent company Anheuser-Busch InBev is not a “woke” company, a departure from his previous comments in which he criticized the beer maker for pandering to the “radical left.”
Bud Light is the official beer sponsor of the Super Bowl, but has struggled with declining sales since April 2023, when the Mulvaney partnership began with a personalized can.
Opposition to the marketing ploy was so great that it cost $400 million in sales and the beer lost its American title.
Musician Kid Rock, NFL player Trae Waynes and model Bri Teresi were among the celebrity faces who expressed their disapproval and filmed themselves shooting beer cans.
The impact wreaked havoc on Bud Light, as the company repeatedly suffered double-digit sales declines almost every week.
The nationwide reaction to the company's marketing even led to some stores selling the beer for less than water, as the parent company lost a staggering $6 billion in market capital in just six days of advertising.
Fans also criticized the company's response to the controversy, which was seen by some as overcompensating with overtly patriotic advertising to try and right the ship.
As the decline in sales continued throughout the year, it hit profits at Anheuser-Busch InBev, the world's largest brewer, which produces a large number of beers including Budweiser, Michelob and Stella Artois.
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In August, just a few months after the Mulvaney ad ran in April, it was reported that Anheuser-Busch InBev had suffered a staggering $390 million drop in U.S. sales.
That same month, Modelo Especial officially triumphed over Bud Light as America's best-selling beer and Bud Light volume fell 26.7 percent.
Meanwhile, sales per 100 liters, a key measure of beer sales, fell to 13.5 percent in the third quarter.
Sales to U.S. retailers also fell 17 percent in the third quarter, largely due to a decline in demand for Bud Light, the company reported.
In November, Benoit Garbe, the company's chief marketing officer, announced he was stepping down after two years amid declining sales.
Bud Light also came under fire from Mulvaney, who criticized the brand for not reaching out during the backlash.
“I was waiting for the brand to contact me, but they never did.” “I was afraid to leave my house,” Mulvaney told her Instagram followers.
“It is worse for a company to hire a trans person and then not publicly support them than not to hire a trans person at all.”
“Because it gives customers permission to be as transphobic and hateful as they want.” Working with us should not be controversial or divisive.
“I was ridiculed in public, I was persecuted and I felt a loneliness that I would not wish on anyone.”
Since then, Mulvaney has appeared on Forbes' 30 Under 30 list. The magazine praised her for withstanding the fallout, and Mulvaney repeated her accusations that the beer company had thrown her to the wolves.
Bud Light was also criticized by Mulvaney herself, who accused the brand of failing to stand by her in the anger
Mulvaney earned $2 million in 2023 from endorsement work, landed deals with Nike and Mac, and recently appeared at the Golden Globes
In 2023, she earned $2 million from endorsement work, landed deals with Nike and Mac, and recently performed at the Golden Globes.
Michel Doukeris, CEO of AB InBev, said the company is now focusing its U.S. marketing on more traditional markets such as college football and concerts following the controversy.
In October, the company announced a multi-year partnership that will make Bud Light the official beer of the UFC mixed martial arts organization. Bud Light was one of the original sponsors of the UFC 15 years ago.
The beer company announced a $3 million scholarship project for families of fallen or disabled first responders in America, another longtime partner of Anheuser-Busch.