'Camo-print' beer bottles latest effort by Bud Light to please customers after Dylan Mulvaney disaster

Anheuser-Busch is planning a temporary camo print redesign of some of its Bud Light and Budweiser packaging in an effort to stop a sales slide in the wake of the disastrous partnership with trans TikToker Dylan Mulvaney. The beer brand released a promotional can emblazoned with Mulvaney's image, and Mulvaney posted images of the can, drinking beer, and reclining in the rub while drinking beer wearing pearls.

Apparently this was not the image Bud Light customers wished to emulate, and sales tanked while the brand was eviscerated on social media for the gaffe.

According to The New York Post, the beer giant held a meeting at its US headquarters in St. Louis with distributors last week to discuss its strategy for dealing with the fallout. One of the new initiatives planned is a temporary redesign of Budweiser and Bud Light aluminum bottles with a camouflage print and images of the “Folds of Honor” program, which provides educational scholarships for children and spouses of fallen and disabled American military service members and first responders.



The redesign is part of Anheuser-Busch’s marketing blitz to invest heavily in the brand this spring and summer, a plan which the company kicked off during the NFL draft at the end of last month.

Other strategies include offering discounts for Bud Light at retail stores and increasing their investments in sports marketing. There are also plans to incorporate the US military, which has itw own trans marketing problem, country and western music, farmers, law enforcement, and first responders into the marketing campaigns. 

The Post reported that at some New York grocery stores this past weekend, the company offered a free "Ultra Mom" t-shirt for Mother’s Day to anyone who bought Michelob Ultra products.

According to data from Bump Williams Consulting and NielsenIQ data, nationwide retail sales of Bud Light have dropped 23.6 percent versus the same time last year, still decreasing from the 23.3 percent decline for the week ended April 29.

The Mulvaney debacle has also dragged down other Anheuser-Busch brands including Budweiser, down 9.7 percent from an 11.4 percent drop the previous week. Michelob Ultra is down 2.9 percent versus 4.3 percent and Natural Light is , down 2.5 percent versus 5.2 percent the week before, as rival brands are gaining market share.