Bud Light Is Failing in Its Costly Bid to Overcome MAGA Backlash

Bud Light — a brand built on bro-y fun — was made for joints like the Green Rock Tap and Grill in Hoboken, New Jersey. It’s a rowdy sports bar with $1 wing nights that in 2022 sold $250,000 of what was then America’s best-selling beer.

But its Bud Light business has collapsed — tallying just $37,000 so far this year — in a microcosm of how the brand, owned by Anheuser-Busch InBev, has struggled since April 2023. That’s when an influencer who is transgender promoted it online and sparked a conservative backlash — one that included Kid Rock in ...