Boycotts’ Initial Effects Hit Target’s Stock Harder Than Bud Light’s
Target #Target
In a sign that boycotts might be becoming more effective, Target’s stock dropped nearly five times more than Bud Light’s at the same point in the boycott.
Bud Light’s commemorative can for transgender influencer Dylan Mulvaney sparked massive backlash that prompted the company to issue rebates that rendered beer purchases free. Conservative customers have since turned their attention to Target regarding its transgender-family swimsuit, forcing the company to pull some merchandise from certain stores.
While Anheuser-Busch’s stock initially responded fairly well to the boycott, Target’s stock price took an almost immediate hit. In the first nine days of the Bud Light boycott, Anheuser-Busch stock dropped 2.42 percent. From May 17 to May 26, the same amount of time into the Target boycott, the company’s stock price fell 13.5 percent.
Newsweek reached out to Anheuser-Busch and Target via email for comment.
Calls to boycott Target began in mid-May following the release of its 2023 Pride Season collection. The items in the collection showcased colors and wordings supportive of the LGBTQ+ community, but many claimed that they also had items geared toward children, including “tuck friendly” children’s swimsuits. “Tuck friendly” clothing items are worn by transgender women to conceal private areas if they have not undergone gender-reassignment surgery.
Marjorie Taylor Greene Issues Warning To Target Amid Pride Backlash
Click to expand
UP NEXT
Following calls to boycott Target, the company announced that it was removing some items related to its 2023 Pride Season.
“Since introducing this year’s collection, we’ve experienced threats impacting our team members’ sense of safety and well-being while at work. Given these volatile circumstances, we are making adjustments to our plans, including removing items that have been at the center of the most significant confrontational behavior,” Target said in a statement.
“Our focus now is on moving forward with our continuing commitment to the LGBTQIA+ community and standing with them as we celebrate Pride Month and throughout the year.”
Brad Horn, a professor of practice, public relations at Syracuse University’s Newhouse School of Public Communications, told Newsweek on Friday: “We’re seeing challenges to everyday corporate decisions of product, placement and promotion at an intensity we’ve never seen before in our consumer landscape, specifically through activist social media efforts.”
According to Horn, all major brands, including sports organizations and other retail businesses, are “susceptible” to the types of boycotts that Target and Bud Light are experiencing.
“The best course of action in navigating consumer boycotts remains to hold true to the organization’s values by making decisions that take into clear account the considerations, consequences and obligations of that organization’s purpose,” Horn said.
“If those values come under attack, the organization must immediately seek the opinions of those stakeholders who matter the most to the brand, then not be afraid to go on the counter offensive to protect the rights, values and beliefs that matter most to the organization.”
Target and Bud Light faced pushback from the LGTBQ+ community for backing down on their support of the community. Anheuser-Busch InBev CEO Michel Doukeris told investors on a call that the parent company planned to invest more money into Bud Light and noted that the controversy surrounding the beer “was the result of one can. It was not made for production or sale to general public. It was one post, not a formal campaign or advertisement.”
Bud Light has struggled to win back customers, and analysts with JPMorgan said that they expected a 26 percent decline in Anheuser-Busch’s sales in the U.S. before interest and tax. During the month-plus of the Anheuser-Busch boycott, its stock has fallen 14.4 percent.
“We believe there is a subset of American consumers who will not drink a Bud Light for the foreseeable future,” JPMorgan analyst Jared Dinges wrote.
Related Articles
Start your unlimited Newsweek trial