Even after Anheuser-Busch dropped $17 million on the NFL, Michelob Ultra is now the best-selling beer in America. This success represents a significant shift in the competitive dynamic of the U.S. beer industry. Many predicted Bud Light’s two-year slide into the abyss of lost sales doom. This decline was linked for many months to a boycott initiated after the brand’s collaboration with transgender influencer Dylan Mulvaney—who is similarly connected to Anheuser-Busch.
Bud Light’s sales just fell off a cliff. As a consequence, the brand has given up its crown as the number-one selling beer, after wearing that crown for more than 20 years. The resulting consumer backlash against Bud Light compelled Anheuser-Busch to put two executives on leave. Yet this decision was criticized for falling short in addressing consumerist concerns.
Anheuser-Busch has already invested hundreds of millions of dollars into marketing Michelob Ultra. They currently brand the company on some of the biggest world stages, such as the FIFA Club World Cup and other major world sporting events. These efforts have paid off, enabling Michelob Ultra to capitalize on changing consumer preferences, particularly as American drinking habits evolve.
According to the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, Americans are drinking less beer. This counterproductive trend has taken root over the last 40 years. That’s created a challenging year for the US beer industry. Millions of other brands are battling just to stay one step ahead of shifting consumer patterns.
Even Constellation Brands, the parent company behind Modelo and Corona, two of the top beer brands in the country, has struggled. The company attributes its recent sales slump to the tougher US immigration enforcement. These changes were made under former President Donald Trump’s administration. According to critics, these policies have up until now chased Hispanic consumers away. This age cohort makes up almost 50 percent of Constellation’s U.S. business.
Constellation just recently lowered its full-year guidance, and the “challenging macroeconomic environment” was listed as the number one reason it’s falling short of expectations. The inescapable truth for the beer industry, the broader implications of these trends are clear — seismic consumer shifts are shaking up the beer landscape on multiple fronts.
Beer brand Michelob Ultra continues to dominate and disrupt traditional measures of brand loyalty. This increase points to significant socio-economic trends that are driving consumers’ decisions. The beer market’s steep overall decline tells a different story, one of a rapidly changing market where old consumption trends are being upended by the new normal.