Bartender Company CEO Reveals ‘Significant Shift’ That’s Hitting Bud Light

A 12-ounce can of Bud Light on a railing at the World Equestrian Center in Ocala, Fla. on May 26, 2023. T.J. Muscaro/The Epoch Times

Demand for Bud Light has significantly declined in recent weeks in the midst of a boycott against the company for producing a can with a transgender influencer’s face on it, according to a mobile bartending company founder.

“There has been a ‘significant shift’ in consumer preferences,” Catarina Tucker, the founder of Barnastics, told Fox News. “Bud Light, once a popular option, is no longer capturing the attention or enthusiasm of event organizers and attendees.”

Barnastics, according to Tucker, allows customers to build a custom proposal, allowing them to see the demand for certain beverages. And, the data shows that demand for Bud Light “has plummeted completely,” she said, adding that “no one wants it at their event anymore.”

“There are a couple clients that have expressed to me their feelings behind it, and it’s no longer popular,” she remarked to the network.

About six weeks ago, transgender influencer Dylan Mulvaney revealed on social media that Bud Light produced a Mulvaney-themed commemorative Bud Light can, while Mulvaney claimed to be in a partnership with the light beer company. Boycott threats immediately followed, fueled by conservative commentators on Twitter.

Last month, the CEO of Anheuser-Busch, Michel Doukeris, said that just “one can” was produced with Mulvaney’s face and suggested that social media-driven “misinformation” and “confusion” was to blame.

The backlash has produced real consequences. In the month ending May 13, Bud Light’s U.S. sales were down 23 percent, according to Bump Williams Consulting. Target’s shares have plunged 20 percent since mid-May, wiping away $15 billion in market value, although that’s partly due to investor concerns about inflation’s impact on shoppers.

A report, citing industry data, found that a Bud Light competitor Modelo Especial is now the No. 1 selling beer. Within the United States, Modelo is owned by Constellation Brands. Outside the country, it is owned by Anheuser-Busch InBev, which also makes Bud Light.

Bill Newlands, the chief executive officer of Constellation Brands, told Newsweek that the four-week spike in sales had happened “quicker than we had anticipated.” “We thought that would take a little longer,” he continued to say. “We’ve been very fortunate that that’s gone a little quicker than we had anticipated. But what a great position to be in on the beer side.”

Other Boycotts?

Restaurant chain Cracker Barrel now faces calls for a boycott after the company made social media posts celebrating “Pride Month” and promoting “diversity, equity, and inclusion” initiatives.

“We are excited to celebrate Pride Month with our employees and guests. Everyone is always welcome at our table (and our rainbow rocker). Happy Pride!” the company wrote in a post. It included a photo of chairs with an LGBT rainbow flag-like design.

The Texas Family Project, a political advocacy organization, posted photos of the restaurant’s diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) efforts that critics say are an attempt to force left-wing propaganda into the corporate world. Some, like authors Christopher Rufo and James Lindsay, assert that DEI is merely a Marxist-inspired attempt to implement “left-wing racialist ideology and partisan political activism.”

“We take no pleasure in reporting that @CrackerBarrel has fallen,” the Texas Family Project wrote on social media. “A once family friendly establishment has caved to the mob.”

A Cracker Barrel Old Country Store sign is visible atop one of its restaurant stores on April 12, 2002, in Naperville, IL. Tim Boyle/Getty Images

Cracker Barrel, like many other major corporations, has a DEI section on its website that says “discrimination, overt or through unconscious bias, has no place” at the restaurant.

After critical posts were made against the restaurant chain, the company’s Twitter account responded that its employees take “pride in creating a welcoming, safe atmosphere.”

The criticism and calls for boycotts targeting Cracker Barrel come in the midst of ongoing backlash against Bud Light, Target, and several other major brands. Target last month confirmed that it removed some pro-LGBT merchandise from its shelves after people noted that the company is selling “pride” clothing and items for small children, including infants.

For June, a number of large corporations have attempted to cash in on so-called Pride Month by offering related merchandise to shoppers. Government agencies, too, have adopted the LGBT flag color scheme, while President Joe Biden on Saturday promoted a Pride Month event at the White House as some critics noted that the White House placed the updated LGBT flag—including the transgender colors—in the center of two American flags.

A large number of negative social media posts about Pride this year are attacking companies for sliding to the political left and accusing them of sexualizing or grooming children, according to RILA Global Consulting, which tracks more than 100 million websites and social media pages per day.

That’s an abrupt change from last year, when a majority of negative social media posts were focused on brands being “inauthentic” and not truly supporting the LGBT population even as they expanded their offerings, the consulting group claimed. In May and June of 2022, there were fewer than 400 posts calling for Pride-related boycotts, RILA said. This year, in May alone there were more than 15,000.

The Epoch Times has contacted Anhueser-Busch for comment.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.