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   From: spencer_@verio.com   
      
   Truck drivers delivering Bud Light have received the middle finger from   
   passersby, distributors have faced intentional collisions from shopping   
   carts as they drop off beer and vendors have endured homophobic jokes   
   calling them "gay beer salesmen," according to top officials at several   
   beer distribution companies.   
      
   While Anheuser-Busch InBev weathers a consumer boycott of Bud Light over a   
   promotion from a trans influencer, the fallout is hitting hundreds of   
   independent, often family-owned distributors that sell and deliver Bud   
   Light to stores, bars and restaurants.   
      
   Bud Light has recorded declining sales for six consecutive weeks after a   
   product endorsement from Dylan Mulvaney, a transgender influencer, set off   
   ire among many conservatives.   
      
   The losses have strained Anheuser-Busch distributors that draw a   
   significant portion of their revenue from Bud Light, the company's top-   
   selling beer, Anson Frericks, an executive who left Anheuser-Busch InBev   
   last year, told ABC News.   
      
   "The biggest losers here are the 500 independent businesses in the U.S.   
   that distribute Anheuser-Busch products," Frericks said. "Those are the   
   people really hurting."   
      
   Anheuser-Busch InBev did not immediately respond to ABC News' request for   
   comment.   
      
   Company leaders at four different distributors told ABC News they have   
   faced revenue losses and have weighed responses such as supplementing the   
   income of salespeople paid on commission or burnishing the local brand   
   with additional sponsorships of community events.   
      
   MORE: The boycott against Bud Light is hammering sales. Experts explain   
   why.   
      
   Distributors voiced frustration with Anheuser-Busch over its inability to   
   anticipate the backlash and some faulted irate consumers for failing to   
   understand the consequences of their boycott for independent sellers. Some   
   of the distributors declined to share their names because they didn’t want   
   to be publicly identified speaking about the business environment amid the   
   boycott.   
      
   "I feel like my main supplier has put the wholesalers and their employees   
   in a really bad spot," the president of an Anheuser-Busch beer distributor   
   told ABC News. "It's frustrating."   
      
   Speaking about consumers engaged in the boycott, one Anheuser-Busch beer   
   distributor in the Pacific Northwest told ABC News: "It's sad that they   
   can't make that disconnect between the independent wholesaler and a big   
   corporation -- it's disheartening."   
      
   Overall sales of Bud Light fell nearly 25% over the week ending on May 13   
   compared to the same period a year ago, according to data from Bump   
   Williams Consulting and Nielsen NIQ reviewed by ABC News.   
      
   Pestinger Distribution Company, a distributor that serves 23 counties in   
   rural Kansas, has suffered a nearly 30% drop in Bud Light sales since the   
   boycott began in early April, Matt Pestinger, the owner, told ABC News.   
      
   Since Bud Light sales make up about a quarter of the company's business,   
   Pestinger said, the dropoff has delivered a blow to its bottom line:   
   Revenue grew 5% compared to last year over the months before the boycott   
   but has fallen 2% since, he said.   
      
   "We're stressed some because you never want to see red numbers," Pestinger   
   added, noting that losses had moderated in recent weeks.   
      
   MORE: Debt ceiling breach could cut millions of jobs. Here's who would   
   lose employment first   
      
   Instead of cutting costs, Pestinger has sought to contain the damage by   
   spending more on sponsorships of local festivals and charities, he said.   
      
   "Our business philosophy is you take care of the community and the   
   community takes care of you -- we're doubling down on that," he added.   
      
   The president of a different Anheuser-Busch distributor, who declined to   
   detail the extent of its revenue losses amid the boycott, said between 60%   
   and 70% of the company's employees are paid through sales commissions. At   
   the end of this month, the company plans to pay such employees a lump sum   
   to make up for the losses, the company official added.   
      
   "I'm trying to keep my employees happy," the company official said.   
   "They're feeling it."   
      
   After the initial boycott, Anheuser-Busch InBev posted a statement from   
   CEO Brendan Whitworth on its website.   
      
   "We never intended to be part of a discussion that divides people,"   
   Whitworth said. "We are in the business of bringing people together over a   
   beer."   
      
   The company also placed two executives who oversaw the endorsement of   
   Mulvaney's Instagram post on leave, the Wall Street Journal reported last   
   month.   
      
   Anheuser-Busch InBev also provided distributors with free beer for   
   employees and additional ad spending, the Wall Street Journal reported   
   earlier this month.   
      
   MORE: Who pays for medical bills after mass shootings?   
      
   At a meeting in St. Louis two weeks ago, the corporation's upper   
   management met with hundreds of distributors and responded to questions   
   about the path forward, multiple distributors told ABC News.   
      
   Some distributors praised the company's response to the boycott while   
   others said the efforts have proven insufficient.   
      
   "I trust our leadership," Pestinger said. "I respect the way that they've   
   been handling it."   
      
   Distributors voiced optimism that sales of Bud Light will rebound soon.   
   However, if the slump continues for months on end, some distributors said   
   they will need to make cost cuts such as limiting employee hours and   
   slashing sponsorships.   
      
   "I think the bad times are behind us," the Pacific Northwest-based beer   
   distributor said. "We do have a game plan if it does come to that level of   
   severity."   
      
   Cyndy, an official at Nebraska-based distributor High Plains Budweiser,   
   who declined to provide her last name, said the focus amid the boycott   
   should be on the acute pain for independent sellers.   
      
   "In the end, the people hurt the most are the local small business   
   retailers and wholesalers in your community," she said.   
      
   'The biggest losers': Bud Light boycott hammers hundreds of independent   
   distributors originally appeared on abcnews.go.com   
      
   https://news.yahoo.com/biggest-losers-bud-light-boycott-164851939.html   
      
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