Retail chain Costco appears to have decided to stop selling Bud Light at its stores as the company has given the beer the dreaded “star of death,” suggesting an end to product sales.
Images shared online show notices at Costco announcing the sale of Bud Light together with an asterisk sign, popularly known as the “star of death.” An item depicted with such a sign at Costco is an indication that the retail chain won’t restock the product or that the item has been discontinued. It’s unclear whether the “star of death” mark is applicable to all Costco stores or only select ones.
“Costco has decided NOT to restock Bud Light. Still no apology, and they still haven’t learned their lesson,” Blaze TV host Chad Prather wrote in a July 13 tweet.
Author Kira Davis wrote in a tweet, “They’re not even selling Bud Light at my local Costco anymore. Don’t know when it stopped, but I’ve noticed it’s not in stock anymore.”
A Reddit user suggested that the “star of death” could only be for 16 oz. cans of Bud Light and that the beer may continue being sold in a 24-pack of 12 oz cans. Another Reddit user claimed that Bud Light is being sold at a store in his location.
Costco’s business model focuses on giving the lowest possible price for products to its members. However, this is only possible if products sell in good enough numbers so that the company can place large orders with suppliers for the cheapest price. If an item registers low sales numbers, it'll get dropped by the retail chain.
Ditching a specific size or variety of an item also doesn’t mean that Costco has decided to stop selling it entirely. The company may focus on selling the same item in another size or variety if the variant attracts sales.
Bud Light’s “star of death” mark comes as the beer brand’s sales numbers continue to fall. For the week that ended on July 1, Bud Light’s sales fell by 28.5 percent, worse than the 27.5 percent decline seen in the previous week, according to Bump Williams Consulting citing NielsenIQ data.
The downfall isn’t limited to Bud Light as other beer brands owned by Anheuser-Busch also fell. Sales of Michelob Ultra declined by 4.3 percent, Busch Light by 8.5 percent, and Budweiser by 10.2 percent.
The Boycott Works
Bud Light turned into a boycott target after partnering with transgender influencer Dylan Mulvaney in a promotional campaign in April, irking numerous Americans who felt that the company was pushing a transgender agenda.In a July 12 interview with Newsweek, Anson Frericks, former president of operations for Anheuser-Busch, blamed the company’s handling of the issue for the falling sales.
“Anheuser-Busch did not understand their customer base and kind of also where their customer base is, in terms of what messaging they want to see from Bud Light,” he said.
Mr. Frericks pointed out that boycotts usually work on easily accessible items. In the case of beer, there are multiple sellers such as Bud Light, Miller Lite, and Coors Light. What differentiates them “is the brand,” he said while noting that it’s easy for customers to switch between these products if they want to.
This stands in contrast to say a sports league such as NFL, when people called for boycotts after players knelt during the national anthem.
“There’s no other alternative to the NFL,” Mr. Frericks said.
Financial Implications
The consumer boycotts have hit Bud Light particularly hard. Between April 3 and July 10, Anheuser-Busch’s market capitalization declined from $134.14 billion to $111.99 billion—a loss of more than $22 billion, or more than 16 percent.During this period, parent company Anheuser-Busch InBev’s share price fell from 61.16 euros to 50.68 euros, which represents a decline of more than 17 percent.
A major contractor for Anheuser-Busch, Luxembourg-based Ardagh Group shut down two glass-bottling plants in North Carolina and Louisiana because of the declining sales of the beer. Combined, about 600 employees will lose their jobs.
In a research note last month, Deutsche Bank analyst Mitch Collett said Bud Light maker Anheuser-Busch would suffer a “permanent reduction” in its U.S. business given the recent underperformance, according to Barron’s.
Mr. Collett pointed out that 24 percent of Bud Light’s customers no longer buy the beer, while another 18 percent are buying less.
A recent poll by YouGov shows that Bud Light slipped to the 15th position in the list of most popular beers in the United States during the second quarter of 2023, down from the ninth spot during the same period last year.
