Bud Light parent company Anheuser-Busch’s stock has plunged by over $6 billion since the beer brand entered an advertising partnership with transgender influencer Dylan Mulvaney.
Anheuser-Busch’s stock was trading at $66 before Bud Light’s partnership with Mulvaney was announced. Its shares are now trading at $63 per share, a decrease in value of over 5%. The company’s market capitalization, a measure of its total share value, dropped from $132.38 billion to $125.73 billion as of Thursday morning.
As of now the market cap for Anheuser-Busch has dropped over $7 billion in the past 5 days, and it continues to drop as the boycott shows no sign of letting up.
Go woke go broke. pic.twitter.com/OO8dy6MEqE
— Benny Johnson (@bennyjohnson) April 12, 2023
Mulvaney, a biological male who identifies as a transgender female, posted multiple videos on April 1 promoting Bud Light with the hashtag #budlightpartner. Bud Light sent Mulvaney customized beer cans with the influencer’s face on them to celebrate Mulvaney’s one year anniversary of becoming transgender.
The advertising campaign immediately sparked backlash from conservatives, who accused the company of disrespecting its customer base. Anheuster-Busch defended its partnership with Mulvaney as “one of many ways to authentically connect with audiences” and described the customized cans as “a gift to celebrate a personal milestone.”
Bud Light’s Vice President of Marketing Alissa Gordon Heinerscheid criticized the brand’s “fratty” and “out-of-touch humor” in a March 23rd episode of YouTube show Make Yourself at Home. Resurfaced social media pictures of Heinerscheid from her days at Harvard, however, showed her partying and living the lifestyle she recently derided. (RELATED: Leaked Social Media Pics From Bud Light Ad Exec Who Slammed ‘Fratty’ Culture Seem Pretty Fratty)
Mulvaney boasts over 10 million followers on TikTok and nearly 2 million Instagram followers. Other brands such as Ulta Beauty, Instacart, Kate Spade and Crest have similar advertising partnerships with Mulvaney.