Bud Light is now the fourth most popular beer sold in bars and restaurants, according to a company that makes software for logging orders.
The Anheuser-Busch brand was previously the No 1 beer sold in the 1,100 "high-volume venues" that use Union's platform. But in the second quarter of 2023, from April to June, Bud Light was outsold by Miller Lite, Michelob Ultra and Coors Light.
Union's data, revealed in its latest OnPrem Insights report, also showed that Bud Light's sales fell furthest in South Carolina, North Carolina and Texas. California recorded the smallest impact.
Conservative activists have been boycotting Bud Light since the brand partnered with transgender influencer Dylan Mulvaney in March. Sales have tumbled, with the beer selling 31.3 percent less in the week to June 24 than in the same period the previous year.
Anheuser-Busch's global CEO, Michel Doukeris, said in May that the decline in Bud Light sales represented about 1 percent of the company's global sales volume.
Union reported a 34 percent year-on-year drop in Bud Light's sales share, from the second quarter of 2022 to the second quarter of 2023.
This took it from the No 1 spot to fourth place at Union's bars and restaurants. The top 10 for beers is completed by Dos Equis, Corona, Guinness, Modelo, Stella Artois and Yuengling.
In the first week of the boycott, Bud Light sales at Union venues fell by 2.6 percentage points, from a dollar market share of 11.3 percent to 8.73 percent. After falls in April and May, sales "stopped tumbling" in June, stabilizing at around 6.25 percent, the software company said.
Newsweek has reached out to Anheuser-Busch by email for comment.
Clayton Dukes, general manager of the Blind Tiger Pub in Charleston, South Carolina, which uses Union software, said Bud Light sales became "almost non-existent" when the boycott began.
He added: "At first I thought this might blow over pretty quick, but I think it is pretty apparent that this isn't going anywhere for a long time."
Union CEO Alex Broeker told Newsweek: "While many people are focused on how the Bud Light controversy has impacted retail sales, it was interesting to dig into our data, from actual orders at bars and restaurants, to understand how customers are changing their consumption behavior across the country.
"Miller Lite is having its day in the sun now, but the immediate shift in the category highlights to us that there is room for further competition."
In a video posted on Instagram in June, Mulvaney accused Bud Light of failing to support her during the backlash.
The influencer said: "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, but no, it was just an Instagram video."
She added: "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."
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
