Bud Light’s marketing team has unveiled a new effort to bolster sales in the midst of ongoing boycott by essentially giving away a 15-pack of beer for free for Memorial Day.
“MAKE YOUR MEMORIAL DAY WEEKEND EASIER TO ENJOY. GET UP TO $15 BACK VIA REBATE,” it says.
The marketing campaign, launched May 17, said that it’s because of Memorial Day, which is Monday, May 29. The purchases can be made until May 31 with the digital prepaid card.
The rebate can be accessed through a website where customers must upload a picture of the UPC and receipt between May 17 and May 31 to obtain it. Customers have to be at least age 21 or older, according to the site’s terms and conditions.
It comes as Bud Light sales have dropped for another consecutive week since a transgender influencer shared a post of a custom Bud Light can that was sent to celebrate “365 Days of Girlhood” in early April. The influencer and activist, a biological male, also posted “#BudLightPartner” in one of the social media posts that included the can.
Backlash
After the Bud Light can with the influencer’s face, several conservative celebrities suggested that consumers boycott Bud Light. Musician Kid Rock, Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-Colo.), and several country music singers have publicly derided the brand since the social media posts were made.Amid the sales decline, some local distributors have attempted to take action to bring back sales of Bud Light and other Anheuser-Busch products. For instance, the Alabama-based Bama Budweiser distributor released an advertisement that sought to distance itself and Bud Light from the Mulvaney social media posts.
The ad also stated: “Mulvaney is not under contract with Bud Light. The videos you may have seen are Mulvaney’s own social media posts that went viral, and many web-based news outlets have distorted the story.” It didn’t elaborate on the distortions.
“You deserve to know the truth, and life is too short to let a couple of individuals decide what you can eat or drink or spend your hard-earned money on. And remember, making friends is our business, not enemies,” the ad said.
Tatum told AL.com that he’s received positive feedback for his ad campaign. However, he said there has been no response from Anheuser-Busch or Bud Light corporate officials after his campaign was launched.
Doukeris added that there was “misinformation and confusion” that circulated online that included a Bud Light can with Mulvaney’s likeness on it. He added said that it was “never intended … for general production and sale for the public.”
During an earnings call earlier this month, Doukeris said that Anheuser-Busch would triple its investment into Bud Light over the next summer and that the firm would provide “direct financial support” to affected front-line workers such as distribution workers and truck drivers.
Earlier in May, Doukeris said it was too early to tell the overall impact of the boycott. “With respect to the current situation and the impact on Bud Light sales, it is too early to have a full view,” Michel Doukeris told an investor conference call, according to Reuters.
The decline in Bud Light sales also represents about 1 percent of the company’s overall global volume, he said.
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