This Shocking Stat Shows Why Budweiser Is In Huge Trouble

A recent company study found that 44% of drinkers 21 to 27-years-old have never tried the brand, reports Tripp Mickle at The Wall Street Journal.

Budweiser is the third-most-popular beer brand in America, behind Bud Light and Coors Light. It has recently also been challenged by craft beer, which is hugely popular with the millennial set.

At the brand's peak in 1988, it was selling 50 million barrels of beer a year. That number has declined to 16 million barrels today.

To "stop the free fall," the company has decided to double down and advertise only to millennials, WSJ reports.

"It means February's Super Bowl ads will feature something more current than last year's Fleetwood Mac," Mickle writes. "It means less baseball and more raves with DJ group Cash Cash."

The company's move to finally reveal the ingredients in its beer was also probably an attempt to attract millennials, who notoriously care more about what they're consuming.

The disclosure came after popular millennial blogger Vani Hari started a petition asking for major breweries to list what's in their beer.

"Nearly every other food and beverage provider is legally required to make this information available - yet these two companies, which collectively sell more than $75 billion in beers each year, have not," Hari wrote on her blog, Food Babe.

Budweiser contains just five ingredients: water, barley, malt, rice, yeast, and hops.

Craft beer's wholesome image has helped contribute to its popularity with young drinkers.

Last year, Budweiser designed a can shaped like a bow-tie to attract millennials.

The design was intended to appeal to trend-seekers and "young adults who haven't yet tried a Budweiser," the Post-Dispatch's Lisa Brown wrote.