The embattled owner of the brand Bud Light, Anheuser-Busch, laid off hundreds of U.S. employees on Wednesday following the Dylan Mulvaney controversy.
According to The Wall Street Journal, restructuring at the company eliminated corporate and marketing roles at major offices nationwide due to declining sales.
The company has not publicly said whether the two marketing executives, Group Vice President for Marketing Daniel Blake and Bud Light Vice President of Marketing Alissa Heinerscheid, who were responsible for the campaign with Mulvaney, are still employed with the company, according to the DCNF.
The brand’s sales have continued to be impacted by the boycott, with sales plummeting 23.6% year-over-year in the one-week period ending July 8 and 27.1% for the four-week period ending July 8.
In the news: Former Anheuser-Busch Exec Calls For Company’s CEO To Quit Over Bud Light Boycott
Bud Light’s collapse appears to be near-total. As The Free Press reported in June, Bud Light lost its standing as America’s best-selling beer to Modelo, a Mexican import.
But now it’s off the radar of many Americans as the most popular beer, as the devastating effects of a conservative backlash continue to register.
A recent YouGov poll, which compared Americans’ favorite beers this year compared to the same point in 2022, pegged Bud Light in a tie for the 14th most popular beer in the U.S., according to Newsweek.
Pabst Blue Ribbon and Miller Genuine Draft are now more favored than Bud Light.
The ratio of respondents who indicated that they “liked” Bud Light was 42%, which remained the same as in 2022.
In the news: Bud Light Backlash Continues As Sales Numbers Fall In June
But the boycott over Bud Light’s affiliation with transgender influencer Dylan Mulvaney, a biological man who identifies as a woman, has turned beer drinkers to other brands.
The YouGov survey found that Guinness, Corona, and Heineken ranked at the top for best-liked beers.
The problem for Bud Light is that other brands have surged past it.
And the situation is so bad that just ahead of the Fourth of July holiday, Anheuser-Busch was offering a $15 rebate for those who purchased a 15-pack of Bud Light, which essentially means the company was giving it away.
That’s because no one wanted it.
Newsweek noted that Bud Light’s sales volume for the week ending on June 24 was down 31.3% compared to the same week last year.
Comparatively, according to CBS News, sales of Yuengling, Coors Light, and Miller Lite, all spiked by 22%, 19%, and 16%, respectively, relative to last year.
The debacle with Mulvaney, who posted a recording of drinking a Bud Light can with his image on it after he was celebrating a year of “girlhood,” has cost Bud Light’s top two marketing executives their jobs and generated demands for the CEO to step aside.
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