The collapse of Bud Light – and by extension, Budweiser – as a brand looks to be pretty complete, if the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally is any indicator of just how toxic the brand has become.

Has there ever been a brand collapse as rapid as Bud Light’s? Remember, this all started back on April 1st of this year, so just a mere four months ago, when Bud Light decided to gift activist and low-rent Audrey Hepburn cosplayer Dylan Mulvaney a Bud Light can to “commemorate” his LARPing as a “girl” for a whole year. The fallout between the Mulvaney can and videos, followed by the uncovered podcast video of Bud Light’s marketing vice president Alissa Heinerschied, talking about making the brand more “inclusive” and less “fratty.” The entire PR situation then snowballed, as the CEO of Anheuser-Busch, Brendan Whitworth, issued a statement that was not an apology, and Budweiser as a whole tried to simply ignore what had happened by trying to hide behind new promotional campaigns like camoflauge cans for “Folds of Honor” and leaving Mulvaney behind, who loudly complained that Anheuser-Busch had dropped him like a hot potato when they realized that his “brand” was in no way compatible with their customer base.

To the surprise of the media, and to the elites (who don’t drink Bud Light anyway), the boycott that ensued has had staying power. The reasons were twofold – one, the brand itself was now toxic and associated with Mulvaney’s mincing antics. Two, the alternatives were plentiful and easy to choose. Move over one yard in the grocery store aisle and – TA DA! – there’s another beer brand that isn’t associated with Dylan Mulvaney and a marketing VP who thinks her customers need to be less “fratty.”

As a result, the Bud Light brand has suffered permanent damage, and there doesn’t look to be a hope of recovery at this point. Not that they aren’t trying, but they can’t manage to put out the words “we screwed up, and we are sorry.” And because they can’t, nothing will change.

The numbers don’t lie.

Anheuser-Busch InBev’s (BUD) Bud Light sales tanked 26.5% for the week ending August 5, per new Nielsen data. That’s a faster pace than the week-on-week drop of 25.9% for the period ending June 17.”

Bud Light volumes crashed 29.7%, accelerating from the week earlier’s plunge of 29.3%.”

“Recent data continues to show that tracked channels reached a point of stabilization at significantly lower levels for Anheuser-Busch InBev than pre-controversy,” Evercore ISI analyst Robert Ottenstein wrote in a note.”

The declines started after transgender influencer Dylan Mulvaney created an Instagram post during the March Madness basketball tournament endorsing the light beer.”

Following the post on April 1, ABInBev saw Bud Light sales trend lower through April. The declines appeared to accelerate following an April 3 video from country musician Kid Rock, which spurred a wider boycott by many on the right.”

To try and stem the sales weakness, Budweiser offered US consumers in most states a rebate of up to $15 on a 15-pack or larger for July 4. The company has also reportedly been discounting Bud Light at retailers since the July 4 promotion.”

By all indications, the gambit hasn’t paid off.”

The sales pressure has stretched well into the peak summer drinking months as the uproar has continued to play out on social media and in national headlines.”

And nowhere has the brand’s permanent damage become more obvious than at the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally in South Dakota. Sturgis is popular and attracts so many people – especially now with the pandemic well and truly over. Bikers and beer are a well-known combination, right? So of course Budweiser is there with a beer garden, and merchandise, and staff!
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OOOF. It’s okay to feel bad for the vendors and staff running the beer garden. They didn’t start the problem and they have no power to end it. But they are the ones on the ground who are being passed by and taking the pulse of the public.

The Bud Light brand has fallen in on itself, and the blame should really fall on Alissa Heinerschied, who went on “leave” not long afterward, and who has reportedly been fired, though Anheuser-Busch denies that. Regardless, she disappeared out of the picture. Dylan Mulvaney is also nowhere near as prevalent in social media as he was before this, even though he’s still trying to stay relevant.

And it isn’t just Bud Light. Target is about to post its sales – and the warning signs are out that it won’t be good.

Target (TGT.N) is expected to post its first quarterly drop in revenue in about six years when it reports results on Wednesday, as the big-box retailer reels from a shift in consumer spending away from discretionary goods to services.”

The article blames inflation, before also noting that Target threw itself right into the “Pride Month” controversy.

A recent backlash over Target’s Pride collection is also expected to impact its second-quarter sales.”

The company, which has been selling Pride-related products for years, said in May it was making “adjustments” to its Pride merchandise, including removing some items from transgender designer Erik Carnell’s Abprallen brand, in response to an increase in customer-employee altercations.”

“There were some of the more extreme, anti-pride people, who were threatening violence, and so there was concern from some people for, you know, initially to go to the store,” said Telsey Advisory Group’s Joseph Feldman, adding that traffic was under pressure in June.”

Jane Hali & Associates senior analyst Jessica Ramirez added more caution, saying customers might not necessarily spend extra on things that may not be used or needed this back-to-school season.”

Remember the people who were threatening violence? Yeah, those were left-wing radicals demanding that Target put back all the “Pride” merch. The “anti-pride” people? They stopped going to the store. It isn’t just the economy and inflation, because Target still offers good deals on many items, including back-to-school merchandise. People still need to buy those products. But it looks like those who watch the sales trends and markets know that Target has lost customers. Apparently, we will know more when both Target and Walmart announce their second-quarter earnings during this week (Target will reportedly announce tomorrow, and Walmart on Thursday).

Pride goeth before a fall. The empty Budweiser beer garden at Sturgis has definitely proved that proverb yet again, and may be the final sign of brand death for the company, with little to no hope of recovery. We are going to find out in short order if Target is learning a similar lesson.

Featured image via il0vethe80s on Pixabay, cropped, Pixabay license