It's good news and bad news for Anheuser-Busch InBev. The good news: One of the beverage conglomerate's offerings, Michelob Ultra, is now the most popular draft beer at American bars, per Draftline Technologies. The bad news: It had to displace Bud Light, another AB InBev brand, to win that top spot, reports Nexstar. Per data culled from more than 1 million tap lines, Michelob Ultra now claims more tap handles in US watering holes with beer systems, a rankings shift that took place on Nov. 1, per Fox Business.
It's an upset that's been a long time coming. "Michelob Ultra has been on a path to surpass Bud Light as the No. 1 brand on draft (by total taps) for a number of years," Draftline Technologies founder Jennifer Hauke says. Per CNN, the gap between the two brands began to close in earnest last year, following a boycott of Bud Light after transgender influencer Dylan Mulvaney appeared in a sponsored Instagram post for the beer.
The outlet adds that "beyond the customer boycott, some bars also removed [their Bud Light] tap, causing long-term damage to sales." In addition to the Mulvaney hubbub, Hauke notes Michelob Ultra's boom also "reflects a broader alignment with health-conscious, premium beer trends," per Fox (Michelob Ultra is a low-carb beer). Also, while Bud Light "has increasingly been seen as 'just a light beer,' Michelob Ultra ... carries ideas of aspiration, activity, and personality in ways Bud Light simply doesn't," Feel Goods Company analyst Bryan Roth tells CNN.
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Bud Light had already plummeted from its No. 1 spot as the top-selling beer in America, pushed down to No. 3 behind Modelo Especial and Michelob Ultra. AB InBev doesn't seem distressed about the most recent development, however. "We're proud to have the top two beers on draft in the US," the company says in a statement. "And by our data, Bud Light is more than 30% bigger than the next closest draft competitor." (More Bud Light stories.)
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