Videos Show Unsold Bud Light Across U.S. on 4th of July: 'Not Selling'

Social media users have posted videos and images from stores across the U.S. showing unsold cases of Bud Light beside near-empty shelves of rival brands on July 4—a time when breweries are expected to see elevated sales as consumers stock up for their Independence Day celebrations.

It comes after the beer brand faced a sustained backlash and calls for a boycott over a partnership with transgender influencer Dylan Mulvaney that led to consistently lower sales since early April—when the controversy began—compared to the same time last year.

Other Anheuser-Busch brands, such as Budweiser and Busch Light, have also been impacted by the backlash, albeit to a lesser extent.

Bud Light's parent company, Anheuser-Busch, was accused of alienating its traditional customer base after it sent a commemorative can to Mulvaney to celebrate her first year of transitioning to a woman, while some in the LGBTQ+ community—including Mulvaney—have since slammed the company for not defending the partnership.

Some brand strategists criticized the brewery over its response to the outrage, which they characterized as being peppered with "knee-jerk" reactions that only extended the controversy.

In one video, posted to TikTok on Tuesday, in a store at an unknown location, Philip Hawkins showed the cases of Bud Light and Budweiser stacked on the shop floor as well as on shelves.

"Bud Light is not selling. This is garbage beer," he said. "Check it out: even with the coupon, nobody wants this," he added, referring to a July 4 promotion by the brand giving American buyers a $15 rebate, which in some places would make a case cost less than $5.

"You can't even give it away," Craig Janisch wrote on Twitter, above a picture showing a refrigerator unit stocked with Bud Light cases advertising the rebate promotion.

Later in the video, Hawkins' camera turns to a shelf of Coors Light, which is half empty. He then walks over to a shelf of Modelo Especial—which in May knocked Bud Light off its top spot as America's best-selling beer—which is also largely empty.

"Check out the Modelo," he said. "It's selling like crazy."

Another Twitter user posted a video, purportedly from Salem, Oregon, showing what "folks think about Bud Light products."

The camera pans across an aisle of refrigerators, showing two that are empty aside from two cases of Budweiser, two of which are fully stocked with Bud Light products, a half-stocked refrigerator of Michelob Ultra—another Anheuser-Busch beer brand—before another refrigerator that contains just one case of Corona.

One Twitter user posted a picture, said to be in St. Louis, Missouri, showing cases of various Anheuser-Busch beer brands, including Budweiser and Natural Light, piled up.

"Bud Light can't even sell in St. Louis on Fourth of July," they wrote.

Newsweek reached out to Anheuser-Busch via email for comment on Wednesday.

According to the latest industry sales figures, in the week ending June 24, Bud Light's sales revenue—its dollar income—was 27.9 percent lower than the same week a year ago, while its sales volume—the number of units of beer sold—was 31.3 percent lower.

In a May 4 investor call, Anheuser-Busch's global CEO, Michel Doukeris, said the declining Bud Light sales represented about 1 percent of Anheuser-Busch's global volume at the time. He also said it had "significantly increased" its investment in Bud Light in the U.S. market and pledged to triple its media spend over the summer.