Bud Light lost nearly 30% of its customer base after Kid Rock drew attention to its marketing campaign with the transgender social-media influencer Dylan Mulvaney.
That ill-fated promotion, an attempt to expand the Anheuser-Busch (BUD) -) brand's customer base into the LGBTQ+ community, failed on multiple levels.
First, it angered part of the brand's core audience. It may not make sense for Bud Light drinkers to be angry at the brand using a transgender influencer in a social-media marketing effort, but that's clearly what happened.
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Second, the company did not exactly have Mulvaney's back once the backlash hit. Those two things led Bud Light sales to slump, which in turn saw the brand fall behind Modelo as the best-selling beer.
Since the backlash and boycott hit, Budweiser has been trying to take a business-as-usual approach. The company has been posting on social media as it always has, which has prompted as many mocking and hateful responses as playful or respectful ones.
It's a tough position for any brand. Bud Light can't directly apologize because that would say that partnering with a transgender person was wrong. The campaign was a mistake for the brand based on the makeup of its core audience, but a traditional apology would itself be wrong and would create a whole new set of problems.
So instead of an apology, Anheuser-Busch is taking a different tack. The beer company is giving free stuff to its customers as sort of a de facto "I'm sorry." It's as if a spouse who opted to hang out with friends when their partner was expecting to be taken to a fancy dinner buys flowers as a peace offering.
And while the giveaway is generous, the question of whether it will work is open.
Image source: Shutterstock
Bud Light wants to give you free football stuff
Anheuser-Busch has had to cut workers due to falling Bud Light sales. That forces the company to keep trying to win back customers, even if one effort or another fails.
For the most part, Budweiser has opted to return to its classic marketing tropes -- think Americana, football, and people having a good time.
Now, the company has begun a new contest where people willing to turn over their email addresses get chances to win free National Football League Sunday Ticket subscriptions or gift cards to the NFL's store.
"To participate, all you have to do is set up an account on the site, click a button on the site, and see if you’ve won. There is no requirement to buy anything, including Bud Light," TVAnswerMan.com wrote.
You can enter once a day, and the first entry gets everyone who is willing to play a 20% off coupon to the NFL's store.
Bud Light progresses toward changing the narrative
In many ways, Budweiser is trying to change the narrative around its brand, and while its make-good efforts are transparent, they might be working.
"Deutsche Bank found that former Bud Light drinkers who are 'very unlikely' to purchase the beer in three to six months went from 18% to 3%," Inside Hook reported.
"The rebound is being aided primarily by drinkers older than 25 and people who earn less than $25,000 annually."
It's possible that even many of the people who were outraged about the Mulvaney deal can't maintain that outrage indefinitely. Even Kid Rock, who initially and prominently shot up the beer after the marketing campaign launched, has been spotted drinking Bud Light.
While giving away some free NFL stuff won't win the brand forgiveness, time appears to be lessening the outrage.
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