Anheuser-Busch Inbev said Tuesday that revenue growth in most of its global regions was offset by a drop in North American sales, in a sign of continuing fallout from a promotion with a transgender influencer that cost it sales.
The world’s largest brewer and parent company of Bud Light said adjusted earnings for the latest quarter rose 4.1% to $5.4 billion on revenues that climbed 5% to $15.6 billion.
Revenue in the United States for the July-September period, however, tumbled 13.5%. AB InBev, based in Leuven, Belgium, noted that sales to retailers were down “primarily due to the volume decline of Bud Light.”
Bud Light sales plunged amid a conservative backlash after the brand sent a commemorative can to transgender influencer Dylan Mulvaney in early April.
I meant the original move, not the immediate backtracking. They started from a laudable position by at least attempting to be somewhat inclusive, then of course immediately fucked it up once their quarterly profits looked like they might take a hit.
Fair enough - it’s a personal pet peeve of mine that the backtracking rarely gets mentioned (as backtracking) in coverage of the event.
Target didn’t do much better, IMO.