Bud Light fell out of the list of America's top 10 most popular beers, judged by public approval, between the second quarters of 2022 and 2023, according to a new YouGov survey.
While the proportion of Americans who "liked" Bud Light hadn't changed, staying consistent at 42 percent, those for a number of rival beers surged, pushing it from a tie for the ninth-most popular brand in 2022 into a tie for 14th-most popular in 2023.
Conservatives and others have targeted Bud Light with a boycott campaign over the last few months after the brand partnered with transgender influencer Dylan Mulvaney to celebrate her "365 Days of Girlhood" in March. As a result, Bud Light sales fell sharply, with the company selling 31.3 percent less in the week ending June 24 than it did during the same period in 2022.
In the second quarter of 2022, 42 percent of Americans "liked" Bud Light, according to YouGov, putting it on a par with Corona Extra, Dos Equis and Coors Light. The Bud Light figure remained the same during the second quarter of 2023, but as other beers saw their approval rise, its relative approval fell into a tie with Pabst Blue Ribbon, Miller Genuine Draft and Miller Light.
For its survey, YouGov polled a nationally representative sample of 1,468 Americans during the second quarter of 2023, which runs from April to the end of June. It found that Guinness, Corona and Heineken were the three most liked beers of 2023, with approval from 58 percent, 53 percent and 51 percent of Americans, respectively.
While the percentage of Americans who said they liked Bud Light was unaffected by the Mulvaney controversy, the beer saw a pronounced drop in sales compared to 2022.
In the four weeks ending May 28, 2023, Bud Light sales were $297 million, a 22.8 percent fall from the same period in 2022, according to Circana/IRI data figures obtained by Newsweek. This meant that Modelo Especial, which sold $333 million during those four weeks in 2023, was able to announce it had dethroned Bud Light as the "number one" beer in America.
In June, Mulvaney hit out at Bud Light, accusing the brand of failing to support her after she came under attack over their partnership.
"I took a brand deal with a company I loved and I posted a sponsored video to my page and it must have been a slow news week because the way that this ad got blown up, you would have thought I was on a billboard or on a TV commercial, or something major," she said in a video posted to Instagram. "But no, it was just an Instagram video.
"I was waiting for the brand to reach out to me but they never did and for months now I've been scared to leave my house...for a company to hire a trans person and then not publicly stand by them is worse in my opinion than not hiring a trans person at all."
Newsweek reached out to Anheuser-Busch by email for comment.
Uncommon Knowledge
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Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
About the writer
James Bickerton is a Newsweek U.S. News reporter based in London, U.K. His focus is covering U.S. politics and world ... Read more
