The Bud Light controversy is not going away. Here’s why

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Conventional wisdom holds that controversies blow over, news cycles cycle, and noisy protestors eventually quiet down. That’s certainly what Anheuser-Busch is hoping for amid the controversy surrounding its partnership with transgender activist Dylan Mulvaney. “It’s too early to have a full view,” said Anheuser-Busch CEO Michel Doukeris during the company’s Q1 earnings call recently but “our full-year EBITDA growth outlook is unchanged.” 

Yet five weeks into the debacle, sales of Bud Light continue to plummet. Its year-over-year sales are down 17% from this time in 2022. All signs indicate that the Bud Light controversy isn’t going away. Why not?

Social science may hold the key. For years, business school researchers have been studying why some consumer boycotts are successful, while others fail. The results are telling. And does not bode well for Anheuser-Busch. 

FORMER ANHEUSER-BUSCH EXECUTIVE SLAMS ‘INAUTHENTIC’ BUD LIGHT FOR HAVING ‘LOST TRACK OF THE CONSUMER’

Perhaps intuitively, one key factor is whether consumers believe they have the power to impact the company’s bottom line. If a boycott would be futile, there’s no point. Bud Light’s customers, however, are witnessing their success in real time. While most companies report sales figures on a quarterly or annual basis,

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