In a recent announcement, Anheuser-Busch disclosed plans to terminate nearly 400 corporate employees in response to a rapid decline in sales.
The downturn began in earnest on April 1, following Bud Light’s controversial marketing campaign featuring transgender influencer Dylan Mulvaney. This information came to light via a statement the company issued to The Wall Street Journal on Wednesday.
According to the company’s disclosure, the layoffs will account for “less than 2%” of its total workforce.
Anheuser-Busch’s website notes a workforce of roughly 19,000 employees. However, the layoffs will predominantly impact corporate roles, leaving frontline staff such as brewery and warehouse personnel unaffected.
Anheuser-Busch CEO Brendan Whitworth expressed the company’s position on the layoffs in the statement: “While we never take these decisions lightly, we want to ensure that our organization continues to be set for future long-term success.”
He went on to add, “These corporate structure changes will enable our teams to focus on what we do best — brewing great beer for everyone.”
The restructuring is set to remove corporate and marketing roles at significant U.S offices including St. Louis, New York, and Los Angeles.
Whitworth has remained reserved amid criticisms and demands for his resignation, stemming from customer outrage over Mulvaney’s involvement in the marketing campaign.
The company is due to release its second-quarter earnings on Aug. 2, and questions regarding the restructuring’s impact on these figures remain.
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Following the contentious Bud Light campaign with Mulvaney, Anheuser-Busch relieved several marketing executives of their roles, indicating possible accountability for the initiative.
An anonymous regional head of marketing revealed last month that the dismissals of marketing VP Alissa Heinerscheid and the group VP of Anheuser-Busch’s mainstream portfolio, Daniel Blake, were not temporary leaves of absence as was publicly communicated.
While the total number of employees affected by the marketing campaign fallout is unclear, Mulvaney’s involvement has undeniably stirred controversy and sparked a boycott that has significantly impacted the brand’s sales figures.
Bud Light, a flagship product of Anheuser-Busch, has seen a continuous decline in sales since the campaign’s initiation in April.
By May, Modelo Especial, a Mexican lager, displaced Bud Light as America’s top-selling beer — a title Bud Light had proudly held for over two decades.
Sales figures issued by Bump Williams Consulting and NielsenIQ revealed that Bud Light sales suffered their sharpest weekly drop since Mulvaney’s campaign, plummeting 28.5% compared to the previous year’s figures during the week ending June 17.
In the aftermath of the significant sales drop during the crucial Fourth of July weekend, Bud Light’s sales decreased by 23.6% for the week ending July 8 compared to the same week in 2022, according to data from Bump Williams.
Furthermore, the boycott appears to have influenced sales of other brands in Anheuser-Busch’s portfolio, including Budweiser, Michelob Ultra, and Stella Artois, indicating a potentially broad-reaching impact.
The week ending July 15 witnessed Bud Light sales falling another 26.1%, as per Bump Williams’ recent data.
Time will tell whether consumers will forgive and go back to the former number one selling beer or if they have moved on to other libations permanently.
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