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Trump calls time on Bud Light boycott and says it's paid the price for partnership with Dylan Mulvaney - and says parent company Anheuser-Busch is a 'Great American Brand' that deserves a 'Second Chance'
Trump said Bud Light partnership with trans-influencer Dylan Mulvaney was 'mistake of epic proportions'
He is due to attend a fundraiser organized by Anheuser-Busch InBev lobbyist Jeff Miller next month
AB InBev lost $400 million in sales amid conservative backlash

By BETHAN SEXTON PUBLISHED: 21:46 EST, 6 February 2024 | UPDATED: 02:32 EST, 7 February 2024

Donald Trump has U-turned on his stance over 'woke' Bud Light and suggested the beer deserves a 'second chance' just weeks ahead of a fundraiser organized by a lobbyist for the beer's parent company.

The presidential hopeful called for an end to the Bud Light boycott which was sparked by its disastrous campaign with trans-activist Dylan Mulvaney. The former president said the partnership was a 'mistake of epic proportions' for which a 'very big price was paid.'

But he insisted that parent company Anheuser-Busch InBev was not a 'woke company' as he threatened to release a list of those that are. His comments came ahead of a fundraiser organized by a major Republican lobbyist for the company in March, where tickets are selling for $10,000 each. The event will be attended by dozens of members of Congress, Republican leaders as well as Donald Trump Jr.'

'Anheuser-Busch spends $700 Million a year with our GREAT Farmers, employ 65 thousand Americans, of which 1,500 are Veterans, and is a Founding Corporate Partner of Folds of Honor, which provides Scholarships for families of fallen Servicemen & Women,' he wrote on social media platform Truth Social on Tuesday.

His comments mark a stark departure from his previous stance in May, when he slammed the makers of Bud Light for pandering to ‘the radical Left,’ Then, Trump backed a conservative author who called the ad campaign ‘a woke, clueless, incredibly dumb miscalculation.’

His climb down comes exactly a month before he is due to meet with AB InBev lobbyist Jeff Miller, a close ally to former Speaker Kevin McCarthy, who is hosting a fundraiser for the presidential hopeful in Washington D.C.

The brewing giant paid Miller's firm $260,000 in 2023, according to lobbying disclosures seen by Politico.

Meanwhile Trump is drowning in more than $76 million of legal fees resulting from various civil and criminal trials. On top of this, he faces the prospect of paying out a further $83 million in defamation damages following E. Jean Carroll's monumental win.

Bud Light is the official beer sponsor of the Super Bowl, but has struggled with a slump in sales since April 2023 when the Mulvaney partnership began with a personalized can. The backlash against the marketing ploy was so great it cost $400million in sales and saw the beer lost its American title. Musician Kid Rock, NFL player Trae Waynes and model Bri Teresi were among the high-profile faces expressing their disapproval, filming themselves shooting cans of the beer.

The fallout led to a devastating stretch for Bud Light, where it suffered repeat double-digit revenue drops on a near-weekly basis. Nationwide backlash to the company's marketing even led to some stores selling the beer for less than water, as the parent company lost a staggering $6 billion in market capital in just six days after the advertising.

Fans also criticized the company's response to the controversy, where it was seen by some as over-compensating with overtly patriotic advertising to try and right the ship.

As the dip in revenue continued throughout the year, it hurt the profits of Anheuser-Busch InBev, the world's largest brewer that produces a large number of beers including Budweiser, Michelob, and Stella Artois.

No - because that would imply I drank it to begin with.

Trump Questions Bud Light Boycott—Calling Anheuser-Busch ‘Not A Woke Company’

Brian Bushard Forbes Staff

Feb 6, 2024,06:02pm EST

TOPLINE Former President Donald Trump suggested his supporters still boycotting Bud Light over its ad campaign last year with trans star Dylan Mulvaney give the brand a “Second Chance,” saying Tuesday that its producer Anheuser-Busch is “not a woke company,” as the country’s one-time best-selling beer looks to recoup lost profit after its major fallout.
Bud Light Boycott Continues After Company Partnered With Transgender Influencer

Trump lauded Anheuser-Busch as a “Great American Brand” in a Truth Social post Tuesday afternoon, suggesting the St. Louis-based company “perhaps deserves a Second Chance.”

Anheuser-Busch has been struggling to recover from slumping sales after its brief partnership with Mulvaney last April, a marketing scheme that proved disastrous in right-wing circles, where media personalities, athletes and musicians called for boycotts against the company amid a wave of conservative pushback against so-called woke advertising.

Trump, who himself does not drink, appeared to call for an end to the boycott Tuesday, saying that instead of targeting Bud Light, “we should be going after those companies that are looking to DESTROY AMERICA,” though he did not list any companies specifically.

Trump, the 2024 GOP presidential frontrunner, also sung Anheuser-Busch’s praises, applauding the company for employing “65 thousand Americans” and partnering with veteran scholarship organization Folds of Honor (Anheuser-Busch says it employs 18,000 people in the U.S., with another 47,000 people working at independent distributors, while federal filings list just over 20,000 employees in North America as of 2022).

After years as the top-selling beer in the U.S., Bud Light sparked outrage in right-wing circles after it partnered with Mulvaney last spring, prompting a parade of attack videos and calls for boycotts, including from country star Kid Rock, multiple Olympic athletes and far-right media personalities. The drama began when Mulvaney, a social media star known for videos about her gender transformation, posted a video on April 1 showing herself with a can of Bud Light depicting her face that the company sent to her to mark her one-year anniversary after coming out as transgender. One month later, AB InBev CEO Michel Doukeris blamed online misinformation for the boycott stemming from its marketing, saying the campaign was “not an advertisement” and that the can with Mulvaney’s face was not meant for wide production. By May, however, the boycott was top of mind for right-wing media, and it has been credited with sinking Bud Light out of the coveted top spot of highest-selling beer, with Modelo Especial surpassing it last May, according to data from alcohol consulting firm Bump Williams. Anheuser-Busch shares were also sent into a tailspin, dropping from $66.73 on March 31—one day before Mulvaney posted the video—to $53.40 by the end of May, a 20% drop (shares have since rebounded to nearly $64).

AB wants us drinking Bud Light again? Come out with full apology during SuperBowl for attempting to brainwash America with woke ideas. And get NFL to drop the whole Black Nat'l Anthem bull$cheit.

I never drank Bud Light and certainly never will. Payton Manning and Emmitt Smith are whores for doing that Bud Light ad. I will give Trump a pass as he's fighting for his life.