Shoutout to that Bud Light backlash for making me rethink my stance on boycotts

I used to think brand boycotts were pointless, just noise that fades in a week. But watching Bud Light lose like $27 billion in market value over that Dylan Mulvaney thing last year changed my mind. People actually stuck to it, and I saw bars near me in Cleveland switch taps because of customer pressure. Has anyone else here had a boycott actually work on a brand you thought was too big to care?

3 comments

3 Comments

margaret_gonzalez2520d ago

The Bud Light thing was wild to watch (and honestly I live pretty far from Cleveland so I'm surprised bars near you felt it). My local grocery store actually pulled all their displays down for months and switched to stocking more Coors Light and Miller Lite instead. It really proved that people can hit these brands where it hurts if they actually stay consistent, not just post about it online and forget.

anderson.david19d ago

Did you notice any change in how the stores actually stocked it after that? I'm not saying every tiny bar will follow, but I've seen it happen where if a distributor sees a dip, they'll quietly shuffle shelf space without making a big deal about it. When I was managing a small convenience store back in 2020, we had a similar thing with a local craft brand that ticked off the wrong crowd, and we just phased it out over a few weeks, swapping in more of the standard stuff. It's less about the big public switch and more about those behind-the-scenes inventory moves that last if people actually stick with the alternative.

dylanmurray18d ago

Cleveland's a weird market though. I know a few bar owners over there and they said most of the noise was online more than in actual foot traffic. A lot of the stores around here barely changed their floor plans, just shifted stuff around for a week or two then it went back to normal once people forgot about it. You still see the same shelf space for Bud Light as before where I'm at - you noticing that trend stick in other places?