Three Key Takeaways:
- Bud Light’s disastrous partnership with Dylan Mulvaney, fueled by DEI pressures, led to a sharp decline in sales, as the brand alienated its loyal customers by embracing radical gender politics instead of focusing on what its core drinkers wanted.
- Former Anheuser-Busch executive Anson Frericks revealed that the decision was driven by external pressures from activist groups and asset managers like BlackRock, which pushed for ESG and DEI policies, damaging the brand’s relationship with its traditional customer base.
- Despite some attempts at recovery, including new marketing strategies and a UFC partnership, Bud Light has yet to genuinely apologize or acknowledge the mistake, leaving many former customers unwilling to return until the company takes responsibility for its missteps.
Remember when Bud Light was just a beer?
The kind of brew you’d grab while watching the football game with friends, not a flashpoint in America’s culture wars?
Those days seem like ancient history now, as Anheuser-Busch continues to pay the price for one of the most catastrophic marketing decisions in recent memory.
Two years after the Dylan Mulvaney partnership that sent sales plummeting, Bud Light’s numbers remain dismal. Sales were down nearly 30% year over year in January 2025.
That’s not a slump – that’s a brand in critical condition. And yet, based on recent statements from former executives, it’s clear the company still hasn’t fully grasped why their core customers felt betrayed.
Anson Frericks, a former Anheuser-Busch executive who spent over a decade with the company, recently shed light on what went wrong.
“The problem with the Bud Light-Dylan Mulvaney partnership was they just were not an authentic partnership at all,” Frericks told Fox News Digital. “They were catering to a lot of those special interests.”
That’s putting it mildly.
Bud Light wasn’t just “inauthentic” – it was actively thumbing its nose at the very customers who built the brand.
The average Bud Light drinker isn’t scrolling through Instagram looking for gender ideology – they’re working hard all day and want to enjoy a cold one without being lectured to.
What’s particularly revealing is Frericks’ admission that he left the company when DEI (diversity, equity, and inclusion) policies began preventing common-sense business decisions, like partnering with the veteran-owned Black Rifle Coffee Company.
Think about that for a moment – a beer brand chose to alienate veterans while embracing radical gender politics. In what universe does that make business sense?
“I joined a company that I thought was a great meritocracy, and then I saw the company really change, especially after 2020, 2021, when the DEI movement was really gaining steam,” Frericks explained.
That timeline tracks perfectly with what many Americans have observed – a rapid corporate shift from focusing on customers to placating woke activist groups.
According to Frericks, Bud Light was pressured by outside interest groups like the Human Rights Campaign to adopt increasingly extreme LGBTQ advocacy positions.
The result was entirely predictable – they alienated their loyal customer base while gaining nothing in return. Does anyone seriously believe that Dylan Mulvaney fans suddenly switched to Bud Light en masse?
For “her” part, Mulvaney has tried to play innocent: “When I took that deal, I didn’t think anything of it, because I was, like, ‘Oh, this is perfect.’ It felt like an organic thing to do.”
There’s that word again – “organic.” Nothing about this partnership was organic. It was a calculated decision driven by DEI ideology, not customer demand.
Frericks points to several culprits behind Bud Light’s catastrophic decision.
First, there’s the influence of massive asset managers like BlackRock, which pressured companies to adopt environmental, social, and governance (ESG) and DEI policies.
It’s worth noting that even BlackRock has recently backed away from some of these positions, recognizing their toxicity in the marketplace.
Then there’s the European ownership factor.
InBev, Bud Light’s parent company, operates according to European sensibilities, where government-business collaboration on social engineering is more accepted. As Frericks notes, “They abide by really different rules over in Europe. Europe is a very pro-ESG, pro-DEI continent.”
That might work in Brussels, but it’s poison in Peoria.
To its credit, Bud Light has made some attempts at course correction. They became the official beer of the UFC and enlisted comedian Shane Gillis for a well-received Super Bowl ad featuring Post Malone.
The “Big Men on the Cul De Sac” spot was genuinely funny and didn’t try to lecture the audience – imagine that!
But these steps, while positive, don’t address the fundamental issue. As Frericks said, “The path to redemption, it goes through forgiveness.” That requires Bud Light to admit they “screwed up” and ask customers for a “second chance.”
So far, no such apology has been forthcoming – at least not one that directly acknowledges what they did wrong.
CEO Brendan Whitworth’s statement following the boycott didn’t even mention the Mulvaney partnership. That’s not an apology – it’s corporate doublespeak designed to dodge responsibility.
The Bud Light saga should serve as a cautionary tale for every American company tempted to prioritize woke politics over their actual customers. The American consumer has options, and they’re perfectly willing to exercise them when they feel disrespected.
So what’s the path forward?
Frericks suggests that Bud Light might need to consider leaving its European parent company and finding an American owner who understands the brand’s heritage and customer base.
That’s a radical step, but perhaps necessary for a true resurrection.
For now, millions of former Bud Light drinkers have moved on to other brands that don’t seem embarrassed by their traditional customer base.
Until Anheuser-Busch fully acknowledges their mistake and makes a genuine commitment to staying out of divisive politics, those customers aren’t coming back.
Sometimes, you just have to call a spade a spade: Bud Light forgot who brought them to the dance, and they’re still paying the price for that betrayal two years later.
