Bud Light Is No Longer America's Top Beer After May Bloodbath

It was only a matter of time: Bud Light is no longer the best-selling beer in America.

At least last month it wasn't.

In a predictable twist, Bud Light has been officially knocked off the top of the mountain by Modelo Especial, according to data obtained by CBS.

Last month, Modelo increased sales by $333 million compared to last year, according to behavior analytics firm Circana.

Bud, meanwhile, sold $297 million worth of Mulvaney Light for the "four weeks ending May 28," according to the same report. 

Modelo tops Bud Light for first time

Well, there you have it. It was only a matter of time, and it's finally happened. A little over two months into the Mulvaney disaster, Bud Light has been dethroned.

And if you think BL needs a course correction ... you're not alone!

"Unless Bud Light starts to experience a serious course correction in terms of performance, which can only come from consumers finding their way back into the brand family, then that firm grip on the No. 1 rank by year-end loosens a bit more every week," Dave Williams, vice president of analytics and insights at Bump Williams Consulting, told CBS MoneyWatch. 

Loosens? I think that grip looks a lot like my current putter, which is from 1997 and hasn't been re-gripped since.

Bud Light sales have been plunging steadily for weeks now, while Anheuser-Busch's stock has tumbled nearly $30 billion since April.

That's billion with a b.

Meanwhile, experts also warned earlier this week that Bud Light could lose shelf space in stores across the country come September should the ship not steady.

Sounds like we're getting ready to see a whole lot of Modelo at our local Publix.

And by the way, for the Modelo is owned by Anheuser-Busch crowd -- wrong. Not in the United States it's not.

Modelo is owned by AB everywhere except the US, where it was sold to Constellation Brands years ago.

Try again.

Written by
Zach grew up in Florida, lives in Florida, and will never leave Florida ... for obvious reasons. He's a reigning fantasy football league champion, knows everything there is to know about NASCAR, and once passed out (briefly!) during a lap around Daytona. He swears they were going 200 mph even though they clearly were not.