Bud Light’s Dylan Mulvaney debacle won’t cripple Anheuser-Busch, but it will tarnish its reputation, experts say.

Beer juggernaut Anheuser-Busch has seen its value suffer since then. Bud Light’s polarizing partnership With transgender activist Dylan Mulvaney. While financial experts don’t expect the $132 billion company to go anywhere, the eyebrow promotion could tarnish Bud Light’s reputation.

“I don’t understand why they hired someone who was just doing the market. I mean, if you’re a Target customer, it’s Kid Rock, and all of a sudden you decide to go to RuPaul’s, that’s just not going to do anything meaningful,” Ted Jenkin, CEO of Oxygen Financial, told Fox News Digital.

Jenkin continued, “In general, they focus on reaching blue-collar workers and young adults, who are 25 to 29 years old. So, I don’t think this campaign will significantly destroy the product.” “But of course, in the short term, Bud Light makes its loyal drinkers wonder, ‘Do I want to continue drinking Bud Light based on who represents Bud Light?’

Anheuser-Busch lost nearly $5 billion in value as Bud Light’s Dylan Mulvaney deal sparked outrage.

Anheuser-Busch set social media on fire when beer giant Bud Light celebrated transgender activist Dylan Mulvaney’s “365 Days of Girlhood” with a polarizing promotion. (Instagram)

In the year Mulvaney, a trans activist and social media influencer who gained notoriety when he offered to interview President Biden about LGBTQ issues in 2022, is now represented by the Influential Artists Agency and has endorsement deals with other major brands, including Nike and Kate Spade. Mulvaney said earlier this month that Beer company As part of the beer company’s March Madness campaign promotion and year-round celebration of “girlhood,” she sent out packages with her face printed on cans.

A second video showed a bikini-clad Mulvaney frolicking in a bathtub while drinking Bud Light beer as part of the campaign. If the contract is some kind of April Fool’s gag, it’s worth the backswing from many considerations. Since then, country music singer John Rich says he’s pulled cases of Bud Light from a Nashville bar, which conservative rocker Kid Rock used a lot. Bud light In a viral video targeting exercise, Anheuser-Busch distributors in rural areas voiced concern and prices for the beer juggernaut dropped.

The stock was at $66.73 per share on March 31 and closed at $64.34 on Thursday. That came amid speculation investors were buying the dip after it closed at $63.38 on Wednesday, sparking headlines that Anheuser-Busch had lost about $5 billion in market capitalization.

Jenkin had only one client who invested heavily in Anheuser-Busch before the Mulvaney debacle.

“We asked them to completely remove their position,” Jenkins said. “We had one guy who said take me out of that inventory. I just don’t want to be a part of it.”

Jenkin said Bud Light may be “desperate” to reach young people because wine, hard seltzer and craft brews are declining in sales. Jenkin is impressed that while Bud Light has a high profile that offends loyal customers, Anheuser-Busch’s price nosebleed won’t put such a big company in serious danger anytime soon.

“When you look at the number of $4 billion or $5 billion lost, it seems like a lot of money. But when you look at the company’s value of $132 billion, it’s actually down from 3% to 4%,” Jenkin said.

But Jenkins said the controversy could have a lasting impact on Bud Light, as Anheuser-Busch is able to stay in business despite the Mulvaney controversy.

“Anytime a company has a national spokesperson, it can affect your business. I mean, look at what happened with Paula Deen and Bill Cosby and Lance Armstrong, and they were celebrities. We’re talking about an issue right now. A transgender influencer,” Jenkin said. “So, there could definitely be a trickle-down effect.”

The commemorative Bud Light statue could feature TikTok influencer Dylan Mulvaney. (Dylan Mulvaney/Instagram)

Anheuser-Busch distributors in Hartland, South ‘spoke’ behind Dylan Mulvaney deal: report

Anheuser-Busch is owned by the global beverage conglomerate InBev, so an American product doesn’t create global value even if someone buys it in the future, said Scott Sheppard of the National Public Policy Research Institute.

“But that seems like a plausible result. People who are interested in drinking Bud Light are just two circles that come close to each other, the Venn diagram, and the people who are eager to support the cause at the cutting edge of the Wokist culture war.” He wrote. “InBev investors won’t suffer much, distributors of AB products and others who do business with the company will definitely suffer.”

Noted journalist-turned-investor Porter Bibb believes that Anheuser-Busch’s “momentary initiative follows the current market trend by punishing companies for leaning toward social culture,” but agrees that it won’t last forever.

“Like an impending recession and a hard landing alarm, this too shall pass. The country is finally — in a social, cultural and political transition, as Gen Z begins to assert itself,” Bibby told Fox News Digital.

Beebe feels that brands like Anheuser-Busch and Disney are among companies that have been “attacked by trying to reach previously marginalized groups” to show concern and grow their consumer base.

“Attitudes, tastes and brand awareness are changing, more significantly to ensure they are covering important market niches,” Bibb said. “Anheuser-Busch, in particular, could see its stock price slide once Bud Sales realizes that the company is quickly giving away all of the water and beverage brands it currently stocks.”

The story is firmly embedded in the cultural zeitgeist, with beer drinkers flooding social media to tear down Bud Light’s decision makers or offer thoughts on the ordeal.

Fox News’ “Out of Control” addressed the topic on Thursday.

“I’m concerned that companies do this,” co-host Kayleigh McEnany said. “It’s in sports, now it’s in beer, Denny’s… it’s the result of getting into that territory.”

Forbes Media Chairman Steve Forbes said consumers will ultimately decide whether Anheuser-Busch has botched the promotion.

“In terms of the whole marketing thing, I think they’re finally getting to know the consumer,” Forbes said Wednesday on Fox Business Network’s “The Bottom Line.”

“Do you want to bring in certain influencers? It might work, it might not,” Forbes continued. “The consumer is ultimately the buyer and that’s something these companies need to remember.”

Bud Light’s Dylan Mulvaney Controversy Hits Rural Distributors As Brand Guru Thinks Consumers Are Confused

Forbes states that companies can do whatever they want when they work with social media influencers.

“If you’re not working, your stock is high, and your shareholders are going to suffer. If you’re a CEO, you’re out of a job,” Forbes continued. “The market ultimately works, and the market is people.”

Forbes went on to suggest that instead of following the Bud Light strategy, Anheuser-Busch could have offered a new beer to new consumers.

Jenkin agreed and said it was a “scary” move for Anheuser-Busch to use Bud Light when it controls so many brands. He believes Bud Light has historically catered to blue-collar Americans, and if the company wants to reach the LGBTQ community, other products will be more appropriate.

Country Music Star Pulls Bud Light From Nashville Bar Amid Dylan Mulvaney Partnership: ‘They Ain’t Catching Up’

“Why in the world would you go after less than 1% of our country’s transgender population and think that would influence more young people to drink Bud Light? It makes no sense to me,” Jenkin said. “I’d come up with a new product or I’d go into Celtizer or one of these prepackaged cocktails — that would be a better move than using traditional Bud or Bud Light.”

Anheuser-Busch did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the stock. The company previously stood by its decision.

“Anheuser-Busch works with hundreds of influencers as one of the many ways to truly connect with audiences across diverse demographics. From time to time, we create special commemorative cans for fans and brand creators like Dylan Mulvaney,” an Anheuser-Busch spokesperson told Fox News. As you said, it is a gift to celebrate a personal event and not for sale to the public.

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Fox News’ Alexander Hall and Susan O’Halloran contributed to this report.