MillerCoors CEO blasts Bud Light as 'scared' of Miller Lite and Coors Light following Super Bowl commercials

• Bud Light ran a series of ads slamming Coors Light and Miller Lite for using corn syrup during the Super Bowl on Sunday.
• "Bud Light is starting this fight for one simple reason. They are scared," MillerCoors CEO Gavin Hattersley said in a note to distributors about the commercials.
• In 2018, sales of Bud Light, Miller Lite, and Coors Light all declined, with Bud Light seeing the biggest drop.

MillerCoors' CEO slammed Bud Light in response to the beer brand's Super Bowl commercials.

On Sunday, Bud Light ran a series of ads bashing Coors Light and Miller Lite for using corn syrup to make their light beers.

Read more: Coors Light, Miller Lite, and corn farmers are slamming Bud Light for Super Bowl ads that called out beer giants' use of corn syrup

"Bud Light is starting this fight for one simple reason. They are scared," MillerCoors CEO Gavin Hattersley said in a note to distributors on Sunday, as quoted in Behind Beer, a blog owned by the beer giant.

"Coors Light and Miller Lite are making inroads and Bud Light doesn't have an answer," Hattersley continued. "We're getting under the competition's skin, and we're ready to take more of their market share too."

Despite retaining its spot as the top-selling beer in the US, Bud Light sales dropped by 5.5% in 2018, Brewbound reports, citing IRI data. Coors Light sales fell by 3.9%, while Miller Lite sales dropped by 1.3%.

"Bud Light's Super Bowl commercials are only meant to point out a key difference in Bud Light from some other light beers," Anheuser-Busch InBev said in a statement to Business Insider. "This effort is to provide consumers transparency and elevate the beer category."

Americans are increasingly ditching some of the biggest brands in beer in favor of wine, spirits, and marijuana.

Millennials, especially, are more likely to prefer spirits and wine than older generations. And, when they do drink beer, they are drinking more craft beer - meaning that mega brands like Bud Light and Coors Light are being hit especially hard.

• Read more about the Super Bowl:
• A new 'Avengers: Endgame' teaser trailer just dropped during the Super Bowl and Captain America is not happy
• Burger King baffled and infuriated people with its Super Bowl ad starring Andy Warhol
• Netflix says viewership plunged by 32% compared to an average Sunday during the Super Bowl
• Vegans are furious at Hyundai for its Super Bowl commercial that bashes vegan dinner parties

NOW WATCH: Wasabi is so expensive that the paste you eat with your sushi probably has less than 5% of the real thing