For almost five months, Bud Light’s parent company Anheuser-Busch has dealt with a colossal public relations nightmare with American consumers. In early April, Bud Light enacted the now-infamous marketing partnership with transgender social media influencer Dylan Mulvaney which resulted in utter disaster.
Anheuser-Busch recently indicated that the company would reduce headcount as the backlash against them continues. In a statement to CNN, an Aheuser-Busch spokesperson said the company’s restructuring “will simplify and reduce layers within its organization.” The spokesperson indicated the layoffs would not affect frontline workers such as “brewery and warehouse staff, drivers, and field sales, among others.”
Reportedly, the firings will remove less than 2 percent of Anheuser-Busch’s cumulative workforce in the United States. However, the conglomerate employs approximately 19,000 people across the country, so 2 percent would equate to roughly 380 employees. Apparently, the reduction in staff will be confined to corporate staff.
CEO of Anheuser-Busch, Brendan Whitworth, commented on the layoffs stating it was a challenging decision but necessary for the company amid the backlash for its woke stance in the culture war. “Today we took the very difficult but necessary decision to eliminate a number of positions across our corporate organization,” Whitworth said. “While we never take these decisions lightly, we want to ensure that our organization continues to be set for future long-term success.”
The plummeting demand for Bud Light and other Anheuser-Busch products could finally be affecting the fundamental business operations of the company. The American Tribune recently reported on a glass bottling plant known to produce bottles for Bud Light that shut down as sales for its client tanked. The closure left hundreds without a job.
The Ardagh Group is a glass producer and saw Anheuser-Busch as a major client. The company announced it would be closing two locations in North Carolina and Louisiana, leading to almost 650 employees losing their jobs. Employees claimed they were “no longer needed” as the boycott against Bud Light raged on.
Bud Light’s sales have been in a downward spiral since early April, when the boycott started. Week-over-week sales figures were commonly reported to have declined well above 20 percent compared to last year. In some weeks, sales were down almost a third of last year’s sales.
Such a collapse in sales has left the door wide open for Bud Light’s competition to step in and absorb the lost market share. At least so long as they don’t employ Dylan Mulvaney as a brand partner. As beer drinkers have ditched Bud Light, other brands have seen notable increases in their sales figures.
The American Tribune reported that Bud Light saw a decrease in sales of approximately 23.6 percent for the week ending July 8th and 27.1 percent for the four weeks ending July 8th. Modelo Especial, who has outsold Bud Light since May, saw an increase in sales of 13.2 percent for the week ending July 15th. The Mexican Lager has also bumped its full-year market share up to 8.1 percent compared to Bud Light’s 8.t percent.
Furthermore, brands such as Yeungling, Coors Light, and Miller Lite are also seeing sizeable increases in sales. Yuengling saw sales jump a whopping 25 percent as it seeks to expand its distribution to new regions around the country. Coors Light and Miller Lite saw 21.6 percent and 16.9 percent sales boost, respectively.
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