Bud Light Offers $2.99 18-Pack After Sales Tumble Accelerates

Bud Light is offering a massive Memorial Day weekend discount: $2.99 for an 18-pack of Bud Light or Budweiser, bringing the price per can down to just pennies. This aggressive pricing strategy is an attempt by the brewer to stimulate demand as an ongoing boycott dents sales for the sixth consecutive week. 

Twitter handle Ramp Capital spotted the promotion on Saturday that reads, “Easy To Enjoy Memorial Day Weekend … Get Up To $15 Back Via Rebate On The Purchase Of One (1) Budweiser, Bud Light, Budweiser Select, Or Budweiser Selection 55′ 15-Pack Or Larger.” 

Before taxes plus the rebate, an 18-pack of beer costs around 17 cents per can. Ramp Capital said, “17 cents per beer is cheaper than water.” 

The rebate follows Anheuser-Busch’s disastrous partnership with transgender influencer Dylan Mulvaney which sparked a boycott by conservatives. Then when Anheuser-Busch pulled support from Mulvaney, it unleashed a boycott among the trans community.

According to Fox News, citing new data from trade publication Beer Business Daily, Bud Light sales volumes for the week ending May 13 plunged 28.4%, following a 27.7% decline the week before. 

The boycott hasn’t been limited to just Bud Light. Other Anheuser-Busch products, such as Budweiser Red, recorded a 14.9% decline for that week, and Michelob Ultra fell 6.8%. 

On the flip side, Business Daily said beer drinkers gravitated to Bud Light’s competitors, sending sales of Coors Light up 16.9% and Miller Lite up 15.1%. 

Beer Business Daily analysts pointed out more discounting is likely throughout the summer as Bud Light and Budweiser sales stumble and wholesalers are left with rising inventories due to lackluster demand. 

“This could be a promotional summer the likes we haven’t seen since after Hurricane Katrina in 2005, where there was so much beer inventory backed up in the trade that it initiated the price war of all price wars,” Beer Business Daily said.

Since Bud Light’s promotion with Mulvaney on TikTok and the resulting boycott, investors have penalized Anheuser-Busch with a $19 billion wipeout in market cap.  

Bud Light’s marketing blunder isn’t ending anytime soon. And along the way, other companies like Target and North Face have yet to learn from Bud Light.