Bud Light, Budweiser Packaging for Dylan Mulvaney’s Crisis Redesign: Source

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by Lisa Fincher

May 16, 2023 | 3:24 p.m

The Post has learned that Anheuser-Busch plans to temporarily redesign some of its Bud Light and Budweiser packaging as it rushes to recover from the Dylan Mulvaney fiasco.

Last week, the company held a meeting at its US headquarters in St. Louis with distributors to discuss its strategy for dealing with the backlash, according to people familiar with the situation.

Among the planned new initiatives is a temporary redesign of Budweiser and Bud Lite aluminum bottles, according to a distributor who did not wish to be identified.

Anheuser-Busch will produce camouflage print packaging and images for the “Folds of Honor” program, which provides educational grants to children and spouses of fallen, disabled and disabled U.S. military service members and first responders, according to the executive.

“It’s an aluminum bottle,” the source told the “Washington Post” on condition of anonymity. “I think it’s the only package that’s going to go, but I’m not 100% sure about that.”

The conservative outcry began when Mulvaney, who has more than 10 million followers on social media, revealed that the beer company sent packages of Bud Light showing her face as a way to celebrate her first full year as a transgender woman.

The temporary redesign will be part of Anheuser-Busch’s effort to invest heavily in the brand this spring and summer, the Post reported. The company started the Blitz during the NFL Draft at the end of April.

At some New York grocery stores this weekend, the company offered customers a free “Ultra Mom” ​​T-shirt to anyone who purchased Michelob Ultra products.

Experts speculate that other potential marketing strategies include discounting beer in retail stores, investing heavily in sports marketing, and incorporating the US military, country and western music, farmers, law enforcement and first responders into their advertising.

As reported by The Post, nationwide retail sales of Bud Light sales fell 23.6% year-over-year during the week ending May 6 — slightly worse than the 23.3% decline for the week ending April 29, according to data from Bump Williams Consulting and NielsenIQ data. .

Sales of other Anheuser-Busch brands also continued to decline, albeit at a slower rate than the previous week. Among those was Budweiser, which fell 9.7% from 11.4% in the previous week. Michelob Ultra, down 2.9% vs. 4.3%; and Natural Light, down 2.5% versus 5.2% the previous week.

Meanwhile, rival beer brands rivaling Bud Light — the No. 1 beer in the US, which brought in $4.8 billion in revenue last year — are grabbing market share at a faster clip as Anheuser-Busch grapples with the fallout from its ill-fated tie-in with the influencer. Transgender which launched on April 1st.