Bud Light's sales woes cause bottling plants to close. (Credit: WRAL News)
Posted on 07/02/2023 9:30:03 PM PDT by SeekAndFind
Bud Light's sales woes cause bottling plants to close. (Credit: WRAL News)
The hits keep coming for Bud Light and its parent company Anheuser-Busch after their disastrous marketing partnership with transgender TikTok personality Dylan Mulvaney. Sales of the beer fell off a cliff, A-B has lost billions in market value, and Modelo has taken over as the number one brew in ‘Merica.
There’s a human cost as well, as glass bottling company The Ardagh Group was forced to cut production and lay off nearly 650 employees due to lack of demand. The company didn’t directly tie the controversy to its decisions, but since Bud Light was one of its top customers, it’s pretty clear that’s the reason they made the moves:
The Ardagh Group, one of the largest glass producers in the world, announced last week it was shuttering its Wilson, North Carolina, and Simsboro, Louisiana, plants on July 17. The Wilson plant employed nearly 400 people, and the Simsboro plant had 245 — all of whom now find themselves without jobs.
The company did not cite a reason for the closures in its statement, just saying it was part of a “multi-year performance optimization program.”
The boycott feels like a watershed moment to many:
It truly feels like there has been a seismic shift in the culture war
We took down Bud Light & Target
“Pride Month” is barely limping across the finish line this year
Systemic racism and LGBT tyranny were defeated in the Supreme Court
It ain’t pretty or quick, but We the…
— DC_Draino (@DC_Draino) June 30, 2023
Despite the bottling company saying that the cuts were part of a “multi-year performance optimization program,” North Carolina TV station WRAL investigated and found otherwise.
Both plants were forced to put some of their machines offline amid the decreased demand, which was “of course, being pointed towards the Bud Light situation,” James Munhall, a journeyman machine repair mechanic, told WRAL.
By May 18, an internal memo obtained by the news station, company executives said they would shut down the two plants “due to slow sales with Anheuser-InBev,” the parent company of Budweiser and Bud Light.
Longtime employees explained that the majority of their business was making bottles for Budweiser and Bud Light.
Documents obtained by @WRAL show a drop in Bud Light sales during a nationwide boycott led a Wilson glass plant to slow production before shutting down, laying off 400 workers.
Some say there’s more at play, as owner Ardagh Group has been closing US plants and investing overseas pic.twitter.com/VC2WYROyie
— Keenan Willard (@KeenanWRAL) July 1, 2023
If Anheuser-Busch thought that this would all quickly fade, they were sorely mistaken. They’ve tried to address the issue but seem unable to do anything right. Their newest commercials have been pilloried on social media, they finally fired the executives behind the disaster, Dylan Mulvaney slammed the company for not supporting him, they sponsored a Pride parade that featured naked people near children, a hysterical rap song mocking the brand topped the charts, the beer lost its spot as the #1 beer in America to rival Modelo, and A-B’s CEO finally addressed the controversy in a message that mostly fell flat.
This Tweet from a parody account kind of sums things up:
Boy, they can’t let go of Dylan Mulvaney, can they? https://t.co/uytMsJNHd5
— Erick Erickson (@EWErickson) July 2, 2023
Update: The user who was responsible for the meme that accompanied the above post has apparently been suspended, which I’m guessing is why the image is no longer appearing. The photo was of beer steins and hot dogs and said something similar to “Bud Light and weiners go well together.”
I’ve been frankly astonished that this pushback has lasted this long and has had such a huge impact on the company. My initial reaction was that a boycott wouldn’t stick and that it wouldn’t have a serious impact on the brewing giant. We’ve seen other attempted boycotts fail to gain traction. However, between this and retailer Target’s similar woes, we’re seeing that many people are getting tired of the endless political messaging forced onto us by woke companies.
The sad thing here, however, is that workers who had nothing to do with the Mulvaney partnership are paying the price.
“They’re descendants of the family that’s also worked in the industry,” Munhall said of the laid-off employees. “Not only are you killing an employee’s job, you’re killing his family, his chances at sending his kids to college.”
Update: This article was updated to reflect that the “Bud Light and weiners” tweet is from a parody account, and then again again regarding the Twitter suspension.
the woke beee atch karen who caused all this probably got a golden parachute....
I had to look at her awhile. I thought SHE was a trans
Sorry, hard to have sympathy for them. They should have diversified their customer base.
Ditsy horse-faced woman is personally responsible for the layoffs of thousands of people on the entire beer supply chain. I wonder how she feels about that.
FAFO
"I wonder how she feels about that" (Budweiser woke idiot)
She will remain a hero to the leftist wackos.
Anecdotal I know - but I threw away a perfectly good t-shirt just because it had Bud Light on it. Bud Light has become a symbol of the trans movement - which I in no way want to support.
Thia is the win I have been waiting for. Who wants to bet most of thkse fired will still drink bud light tonight?
I am stunned the factory didn’t just stick another label on the beer—lying and faking it is so 2023....
BL is low-quality swill, its popularity is due to mass marketing. Try Anchor Steam beer if your store has it, it’s what real beer tastes like. Yay, burp!
The article is about glass bottle makers, but I thought Bud Light comes mainly in cans?
Here is a suggestion to the glass bottle company. Talk to soda companies to put soda in glass bottles. We buy Mexican Coke because it tastes better.
It probably does, but you can buy longnecks of the swill. Even if only say 15% were sold thus, that would be a *lot* of bottles.
A lot prior to this fiasco, that is.
RE: The article is about glass bottle makers, but I thought Bud Light comes mainly in cans?
There are still lots of Bud Lights in bottles. I used to have a few with my pals after a good game of basketball 🏀
I hear Modelo is hiring.
Some of that woke going on at Anheuser-Busch smart and high IQ are not related.
Edison taps box
Ford seconds it
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