[continued from previous message]   
      
   distributors “still feel insulted, slighted and minimized by   
   corporate’s lack of apology and insensitive comments about how   
   little Bud Light’s volume has had on their global business and   
   volume trends.”   
      
   Williams doesn’t think that Bud Light will “fully recover its losses   
   in 2024 and probably would have suffered greater declines” if it   
   wasn’t for the financial program it implemented with distributors   
   that included writing checks and even buying beer for drinkers at   
   some bars.   
      
   Impact on other brands   
   Bud Light’s loss is a win for other brands, including some in the   
   A-B family like fast-growing Michelob Ultra. Williams said “thank   
   goodness” the low-carb beer was in a strong position before this,   
   because his firm’s analysis shows that Michelob Ultra is “taking   
   over the #1 brand positions in markets where Bud Light fell from   
   grace.”   
      
   Other beers are also seeing a benefit. Modelo Especial, Miller Lite,   
   Coors Light, Yuengling Lager and Flight, plus Pabst Blue Ribbon, are   
   all gaining in dollars and volume at the expense of Bud Light in   
   recent weeks, Williams said.   
      
   He added that he “sees no reason” why Modelo Especial will lose its   
   title as the number-one beer brand in US in terms of sales next   
   year.   
      
   Moving forward, 2024 will still be a struggle for Bud Light and its   
   identity. Roth said that customers will notice the shift from being   
   inclusive and celebrating the LGBTQ+ community to an “incredibly   
   generic” identity with some ads that encourage simply drinking Bud   
   Light.   
      
   “Today’s consumers feel connected to brands because they represent   
   ideas and values, not because a beer company makes a general hand   
   wave that drinking its product will be ‘easy to enjoy,’” Roth said.   
      
   https://www.cnn.com/2023/12/29/food/bud-light-year-in-review-   
   future/index.html#:~:text=Still%2C%20with%20weekly%20sales   
   %20down,is%20still%20in%20this%20position.   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)