Bud Light has lost over $27 billion since it went woke by teaming up with the transgender influencer Dylan Mulvaney for an ad campaign back in April. Now, things have gotten even worse for the beer brand, as Florida Governor Ron DeSantis (R) is threatening its parent company Anheuser-Busch with legal action over the Mulvaney partnership.
DeSantis: We are going to launch an inquiry about bud light and it could lead to a derivative lawsuit filed on behalf of the shareholders of the Florida pension fund. @acyn
pic.twitter.com/aGhrcrbsgd— The Intellectualist (@highbrow_nobrow) July 21, 2023
DeSantis Launches Inquiry
DeSantis revealed that his administration is launching an inquiry into AB InBev, alleging that the company didn’t follow through with its “fiduciary duty” to shareholders and pensioners by collaborating with Mulvaney.
“When you start pursuing a political agenda at the expense of your shareholders, that’s not just impacting very wealthy people,” DeSantis told Fox News. “It impacts hardworking people who were police officers, firefighters and teachers in terms of the pension.”
“So we’re going to be launching an inquiry about Bud Light and InBev, and it could be something that leads to a derivative lawsuit filed on behalf of the shareholders of the Florida pension fund because at the end of the day, there’s got to be penalties when you put business aside to focus on your social agenda at the expense of hardworking people,” he continued.
DeSantis went on to explain that Florida had $53 million worth of InBev stock in the state’s pension funds of about $180 billion. He alleged that shareholders were negatively impacted by Bud Light’s plummeting sales in the wake of the Mulvaney campaign.
We’re launching an inquiry about Bud Light and InBev: Ron DeSantis pic.twitter.com/2dh8C5b9vO
— Father Conservative (@LeftistBaptist) July 21, 2023
Related: ‘No Way Out’ For Bud Light After Woke Dylan Mulvaney Scandal, Former Levi’s Exec Jennifer Sey Says
‘All Options Are On the Table’
On Friday morning, DeSantis took to Twitter to share the letter he sent to the interim executive director of the State Board of Administration in which he called for the inquiry to be launched.
“It appears to me that AB InBev may have breached legal duties owed to its shareholders, and that a shareholder action may be both appropriate and necessary,” DeSantis wrote. “To protect SBA and the retirees of Florida from losses attributable to AB InBev’s disregard of those duties, all options are on the table.”
Bud Light has lost billions since the infamous Mulvaney ad campaign, with the latest figures saying that sales dropped 23.6% in the one-week period that ended July 8 compared to the same period last year. This has been credited to the highly effective boycott of Bud Light launched by fed-up conservatives over the Mulvaney collaboration.
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“Bud Light’s missteps felt like a betrayal to both its liberal and conservative customers, and that trust is going to take months, if not years, to rebuild,” Daniel Korschun, an associate professor of marketing at Drexel University’s LeBow College of Business, recently told The New York Times.
This isn’t a parody. Dylan Mulvaney is now the face of Bud Light. pic.twitter.com/cpygA74cG5
— Ian Miles Cheong (@stillgray) April 2, 2023
Related: Bud Light Humiliated As It Falls Out Of Top 10 Most Popular Beers In America
Things Get Even Worse For Bud Light
Making matters even worse for the brand, Bud Light’s unpopularity appears to have “infected” its sister brands under the Anheuser-Busch umbrella. Sales of Michelob Ultra were down 4.3% in the week that ended July 1, while Busch Light sales were down 8.5%, according to Bump Williams’ eponymous consulting firm.
“Budweiser trends have been slipping for a very long time, but it’s the Michelob Ultra negative numbers and now Busch Light negative trends that are most alarming to me,” Williams told The Post. “They were very healthy prior to April 1.”
In contrast, Modelo Especial, which has dethroned Bud Light as America’s top beer, has seen its sales increase 11.4% during the week that ended July 1.
“The gap between Modelo Especial and Bud Light on a year-to-date basis is closing,” Williams explained.
BREAKING: Modelo Especial surpasses Bud Light to become America’s top-selling Beer 🍺 pic.twitter.com/5tMZ5nzsaF
— Daily Loud (@DailyLoud) June 15, 2023
It’s safe to say that Bud Light has learned the hard way that “go woke, go broke” is very real indeed. Though some may feel that DeSantis is kicking Bud Light while they’re down, the silent majority will undoubtedly be very pleased by his decision to launch this inquiry.
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