A Glass Bottling Company Is Letting Go 600 Employees Amid Bud Light Controversy

A glass bottling company, which was impacted by the $20 billion Bud Llight fiasco, will shut down two of its locations, putting more than 600 employees out of jobs. The beer brand is still struggling with declining sales and losses following boycott calls over its collaboration with a transgender influencer.

The bottling company, owned by The Ardagh Group, announced that it will be closing its plants in North Carolina and Louisiana this month. Employees of the plant said that the worker's union is trying to negotiate a severance package with the management.

In a statement Wilson's plant manager says, "Due to slow sales with Anheuser Inbev," two production lines will be closing. The majority of the plant's business comes from Budweiser and Bud Light, per WRAL News. Data shows that the beer company's sales fell by 24% in May 2023 following the boycott over the brands' collaboration with transgender influencers.

In the February 2023 earning calls before the Bud Light Controversy happened, the CEO of the bottle-making company said that the earning in Europe and Africa were up by a whopping 110% compared to the year before, but there was a 9% drop in shipments and revenue in North America. The CEO also mentioned that the company might have to close some plants in the near future.

The Bud Light Boycott: What Really Happened?

In April 2023, the beer brand sent influencer Dylan Mulvaney a crate of beers, who then took to social media and posted a video of herself dressed like Holly Golightly from "Breakfast at Tiffany's," per Vox. In the video, she said that she was celebrating March Madness and also her first year of womanhood. She showed a can that featured her photo as a part of the paid partnership with the brand. She also talked about the sweepstakes challenge where people can win $15,000. All they had to do was send in videos of themselves carrying as many beer cans as possible. 

Is Budlight the Only Brand Which Finds Itself in the Center of Controversy?

The beer brand is among a few brands that are getting backlash for collaborating with the LGBTQIA+ community. Another major brand that is being held hostage for collaborating with the LGBTQIA+ community is Target. The brand has been selling Pride-themed merchandise for years now. However, this year the company faced an anti-LGBTQ campaign for which they even decided to hide their collection in the secluded areas of the stores and removed some items.

"Target should put the products back on the shelves and ensure their Pride displays are visible on the floors, not pushed into the proverbial closet. That’s what the bullies want," said Kelley Robinson, the president of the Human Rights Campaign, a civil rights group, per CNN.

How Are the Boycotts Affecting the Brands?

Bud Light is facing a 15% decline in sales since its partnership with Dylan. In the week that ended on June 10, 2023, the beer brand's sales revenue plummeted by a whopping 26.8 percent, per Newsweek. The company's CEO said that these declines only represented 1 percent of Anheuser-Busch's global volume. However, the decline is having a greater impact on U.S. revenue. The decline started improving on May 20 but dipped again in the coming week, per the outlet. 

Target, on the other hand, lost over $10 billion in market valuation because of its PRIDE collection, per the NY Post. The company saw a drop in this scale after almost 3 years. The retailer also suffered 9 days of constant losses amid backlash, per Fox Business. A little while ago, the brand had $160.96 a share but following the PRIDE boycott, the value dropped to $138.93 a share.