Beyond the Bud Light boycott, Anheuser-Busch has a new problem

While its overall business has remained strong, Anheuser-Busch InBev keeps taking major hits in the United States. The company has not recovered from the boycotts over its decision to partner with transgender social media influencer Dylan Mulvaney.

Those boycotts, which were kicked off by Kid Rock posting a video to social media where he shot up cases of the beer, cost Bud Light about 25% of its sales. The company has shown no signs that it’s going to be able to bring that brand back to its former prominence.

Anheuser-Busch InBev (BUD)   saw revenue decline by 9.5% in the fourth quarter while sales-to-wholesaler volume dropped by 12.7%. CEO Michel Doukeris called those drops “primarily due to the volume decline of Bud Light,” during his company’s fourth-quarter earnings call.

“2023 was a challenging year for our business in the U.S.,” he noted.

That’s perhaps a bit of a soft sell, but Doukeris knows that talking about Bud Light during an earnings call (or at any other time) revives the news story which essentially reminds aggrieved customers to boycott. He did share that any shelf space Bud Light has lost has generally been made up by Anheuser-Busch InBev’s brands.

“What we lost is on Bud Light, and we’ve recovered across the portfolio with Michelob Ultra, Busch Light, Cutwater, Nutrl, Corona, Stella, all gaining share of shelf,” he added.

Constellation Brands has the rights to sell Corona in the U.S. Image source: Shutterstock

Anheuser-Busch InBev loses a court case

Anheuser-Busch InBev owns Groupo Modelo, but Constellation Brands has rights to its popular Corona brand for beer in the U.S. It also has been selling Modelo and Corona-branded hard seltzer beverages which was the subject of a lawsuit by Anheuser-Busch InBev which alleged that Constellation did not have the rights a do that.

A 2023 court decision ruled in favor of Constellation Brands and that decision has been upheld by a U.S. appeals court.

“AB InBev’s Mexican arm Grupo Modelo filed the lawsuit against Constellation accusing the company of violating a brand licensing agreement when it launched Corona Hard Seltzer. The lawsuit said the agreement only allowed Constellation to use Corona in the U.S. for beer. (AB InBev owns the rights to Corona in Mexico and the rest of the world.) Constellation countered that the licensing deal allowed it to sell other alcoholic drinks,” FoodDive reported.

Essentially, the court ruled that the agreement between the two companies did allow Constellation to sell products including Modelo Ranch Water and Corona Hard Seltzer in the U.S.

At the heart of the matter was what actually constitutes beer. The appeals court said that both companies had plausible definitions and Constellation’s definition allowed the company to produce Corona Hard Seltzer and Modelo Ranch Water.

That’s something that Anheuser-Busch InBev continues to take issue with.

“When Grupo Modelo provided Constellation with a license to sell those beer brands in the U.S., Grupo Modelo never agreed that Constellation had the right to use our iconic Corona and Modelo brands for sugar-based seltzers that are clearly not Mexican cervezas,” a company spokesperson told BrewBound.

Anheuser-Busch InBev sees growth for beer

While it faces some headwinds in the U.S., Anheuser-Busch InBev remains confident that its beer brands will drive growth.

“And looking ahead, beer is projected to continue this strength. Led by the strong performance of our global mega brands, our revenues continue to grow this year, reaching a new all-time high for a company of $59.4 billion,” Doukeris said. “We continue to invest in our category expansion levers and mega brands, building meaningful connections with our consumers.”

For Bud Light, that has meant avoiding doing anything even vaguely controversial and leaning into its traditional marketing and advertising strategies.

“We expanded our long-stand partnership with Folds of Honor, including bringing the NFL and Bud Light together to also support first responders. We continue to invest in our mega brands and mega platforms, such as sports and music that all consumers love including the NFL, NBA, Lollapalooza, as well as new investments with the VMAs, UFC, Copa America, and Team USA for the Olympic and Paralympic Games,” he added.