The Bud Light Boycott Doesn't Seem to Be Damaging Anheuser-Busch's Diverse Business. Here's Why
Many of Anheuser-Busch InBev's (NYSE: BUD) conservative customers were upset with the company earlier this year after learning that the Bud Light brand had entered a marketing promotional deal with transgender social media influencer, Dylan Mulvaney. This led to calls for a boycott of the brand. Musician Kid Rock even posted a video online, showing him shooting up cases of Bud Light in protest of the move.
The boycott does appear to have affected sales and Bud Light lost its top spot among beer brands in the U.S. market. Despite the seemingly big blow to the business, Anheuser-Busch isn't in bad shape. In fact, the company's coming off a strong quarter, thanks to its diverse and global business.
For all the negative attention surrounding the business in the right-wing media, Anheuser-Busch's financials proved to be resilient this past quarter. Although it faced some challenging headwinds, including inflation, its adjusted underlying profit of $1.5 billion for the period ending June 30 was down just a modest 1% year over year. Sales of $15.1 billion also rose by 7.2% from the same period last year.
Source Fool.com