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Budweiser and its parent company Anheuser-Busch InBev
BUD,
have a new critic over its brief promotional campaign with a transgender influencer: Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis.
DeSantis is suggesting that the state take legal action against AB InBev on behalf of Florida, because part of the state’s pension fund is made up of the company’s stock. DeSantis referred to the company doing an Instagram promotion with transgender influencer Dylan Mulvaney as an example of “radical social ideologies” in a letter posted on Twitter to Florida Interim Board of Administration Executive Director Lamar Taylor.
In the months since the campaign, sales of Bud Light, and some of the company’s other brands have dipped, and Modelo Especial dethroned Bud Light as the best-selling beer in the U.S. in April. Bud Light sales plunged roughly 24% year-over-year for the week ended June 3, but the company’s stock is actually up 7.89% over the last 12 months.
“It appears to me that AB InBev may have breached legal duties owed to its shareholders, and that a shareholder action may be both appropriate and necessary,” DeSantis’s letter read.
“ ‘It appears to me that AB InBev may have breached legal duties owed to its shareholders, and that a shareholder action may be both appropriate and necessary.’”
DeSantis called Bud Light’s fall from being the top beer seller in the U.S. “staggering” and said that “all options are on the table.”
In the months following the Budweiser promo in question, the brewer has attempted to distance itself from trans influencer Mulvaney — which is something she has called the company out on.
See also: Dylan Mulvaney breaks silence on Bud Light ‘bullying and transphobia,’ with some choice words for Anheuser-Busch
“Everything we do should be about beer and promoting beer,” Michel Doukeris, Anheuser-Busch’s chief executive, told analysts in May.
Budweiser is the official sponsor of the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup, and some industry experts say the tournament will be a good opportunity for tournament sponsors to reset their brand focus.
Representatives for DeSantis’s office and AB InBev did not respond to MarketWatch’s request for comment on this story.
The 2024 GOP presidential hopeful is no stranger to battling with publicly-traded companies over issues surrounding gender identity. Disney and DeSantis have been locked in an ongoing feud for the last year stemming from when the entertainment conglomerate publicly opposed the state’s so-called “Don’t Say Gay” bill.
Disney
DIS,
President Bob Iger said DeSantis was acting in an “anti-business” manner, and DeSantis has repeatedly called out Disney for being “woke.”
From the archives (May 2023): Disney board banned tattoo parlors, liquor stores, adult entertainment, prior to DeSantis takeover
DeSantis is one of many Republicans hoping to secure the GOP’s presidential nomination, but all candidates trail former president Donald Trump who is leading in many early primary polls. The first 2024 Republican presidential debate is scheduled for Aug. 23, in Milwaukee, Wis.
Shares of AB InBev are down 2.48% to date in 2023.
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