Posted on 07/03/2023 8:25:08 AM PDT by Red Badger
Anheuser-Busch’s botched promotion featuring transgender influencer Dylan Mulvaney has led to the closure of two glass bottling plants operated by Ardagh Group, a global glass producer and contractor for the company. As Bud Light continues to face significant financial losses and declining sales, approximately 645 employees will be laid off as a result of the plant closures in North Carolina and Louisiana, according to WRAL.
While the bottling company did not officially disclose the reason behind the closures, an investigation by WRAL revealed that the plants are shutting down due to plummeting Bud Light sales. Nationwide boycotts in response to the controversial Bud Light partnership with Mulvaney, known as “365 Days of Girlhood,” have adversely affected retailers, distributors, bars, and contracted companies associated with the brand.
Workers at the affected bottling plants reportedly observed a decrease in production after Mulvaney’s video announcement of the collaboration on social media gained attention in April. The impact of the boycott resulted in some machines being taken offline at the Louisiana and North Carolina plants, as noted by a machine repair mechanic interviewed by WRAL, who attributed it to “the Bud Light situation.”
An internal memo from Ardagh Group obtained by WRAL stated that the decision to close the two plants was due to slow sales with Anheuser-InBev. Longtime employees expressed little surprise at the closures, given that a significant portion of their business at those plants involved producing bottles for Budweiser and Bud Light.
Employees at the Wilson, North Carolina plant reportedly confirmed that their manager attributed the closure to the Bud Light boycott, with David Williams, a machine repair mechanic, stating, “‘Because of Budweiser no longer selling the bottle, they no longer needed our product.'”
Since the controversial promotion featuring Mulvaney and the subsequent backlash, Bud Light sales have suffered a decline that shows no signs of recovery. The brand has experienced substantial losses in market value and has taken various measures to mitigate the fallout. These steps include significant beer discounts, consumer rebates that make Bud Light practically free in certain markets, support for distributors, increased marketing efforts, a new summer ad campaign, and CEO Brendan Whitworth’s appearance on “CBS Mornings” to address the situation.
Despite these efforts, the negative sentiment surrounding the Bud Light brand persists, resulting in ongoing sales slides. NielsenIQ data provided to FOX Business by Bump Williams Consulting revealed that Bud Light sales were down 24.4% compared to the previous year for the week ending June 3. During the same period, Modelo Especial surpassed Bud Light as the top-selling beer brand on a dollar basis.
Mulvaney recently criticized the controversy surrounding Bud Light, highlighting the increased bullying and transphobia faced as a consequence. The transgender influencer also expressed disappointment with the lack of support from the company while dealing with transphobic incidents.
They are really trying to pile on the guilt to break up. Sorry, guys, but the mainstream brews brands of light beer are largely interchangeable. No one has turned down a Miller Lite or a Coors Light while holding out for a Bud Light. There may be some brand loyalty based on an adverised trained conditioned response, but none on actual flavor. And now that trained response has been shattered.
The laid off employees should sue the parent company for that caustic approach to advertising. Make THEM pay for what they’ve done to these employees.
But for going woke, they’d still have a job.
Trickle down Bidenomics.
As the Mom of one of those laid off employees, they are angry. Very angry to have lost well paying jobs with good benefits all because of the arrogance and ignorance of one marketing team who failed to see what the fallout would be in what they were doing. And it’s not only the employees who will suffer but the local community as a whole. Those employees spent their paychecks, which in turn supported many local businesses. The taxes the company paid to the town will no longer be there either. What effect will that have to those who live there in the near future? Hard working men and women now have to wonder what’s next for them? Many of them older....40’s, 50’s & up who have worked there their whole lives and raised families and some are putting their kids through college on those great paychecks. Gone. All because A-B thought it would be a good idea to hire some woke morons for their marketing department. Honestly, what do you think they are saying about this? Nothing good I can tell you that!
Exactly right!
You are correct. A-B was their biggest customer.
I’ve seen similar thing happen at a company I used to work for.
They had ONE BIG CUSTOMER, and did not bother to try and get others.
Then that one big customer changed their suppliers, and the company had to lay off hundreds...........
Yep. A-B has been their biggest customer for as long as I can remember. My husband started working there back in 1977 [now retired], and A-B was their biggest customer back then. Probably their biggest customer from the time the plant first opened? It easy to say just switch to making something else. Not so easy or cost effective to do for the company.
IF I remember correctly, a few years ago this plant tried to get contracts to make other types of bottles/jars, but unfortunately it didn’t happen for one reason or another.
Sorry for your son and colleagues. Sort of the same fate the bastard Biden delivered to the Keystone workers, energy sector in general, and god knows who else. When will the nightmare end?
Tooling up costs can be prohibitive.................
Bud hired a fruity guy that prances around acting like a 12 year old girl.
I thought using minors to sell alcohol was illegal..
That was good.
Credits show Roger Moore as a reporter, but I didn’t recognize him.
The woke chick who did this couldn’t care less about hurting the company she was hired to help.
He was in disguise..................
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