Anheuser-Busch says, 'We hear you,' pledges to give money to wholesalers as Bud Light sales tank

Anheuser-Busch responded after Bud Light lost the spot of top-selling U.S. beer by saying that it hears its customers, who have been boycotting the brewery after it partnered with transgender influencer Dylan Mulvaney.

The St. Louis-based brewery also said it would offer "financial assistance" to its independent wholesalers, who have been losing money as Bud Light sales declined nearly a quarter after the company sent custom beer cans in April to Mulvaney, a biological male, to celebrate the influencer's one year of living as a woman. 

"We recognize that over the last two months, the discussion surrounding our company and Bud Light has moved away from beer, and this has impacted our consumers, our business partners, and our employees," Anheuser-Busch CEO Brendan Whitworth said late last week. "We are a beer company, and beer is for everyone."

Whitworth also said the company is "investing to protect the jobs of our frontline employees" as sales suffer. 

Addressing customers, Whitworth said that "we hear you" and "you can look forward to Bud Light reinforcing what you’ve always loved about our brand – that it’s easy to drink and easy to enjoy."

Looking toward the future, Whitworth said the company plans on focusing on brewing beer. 

The Mexican-based Modelo Especial surpassed Bud Light in sales in May, according to numbers released last week. 

Madeleine Hubbard is an international correspondent for Just the News. Follow her on Twitter or Instagram.