The Bud Light fiasco fall-out continues with worker lay-offs, free beer promotions

It’s the story that just won’t end. More than 600 people are losing their jobs because of the marketing controversy that exposed the fact that the company didn’t know its customers. More than three months later, the story not only continues, it is growing.

One consequence of the successful boycott of Bud Light is that now the demand for the product is down. That means that the glass bottling company that contracts with Bud Light is closing two plants this month and more than 600 employees will lose their jobs. The Ardagh Group, a global glass producer, announced it will be closing their plants in North Carolina and Louisiana this month. A reason was not given but an investigation by WRAL found that the plants are closing because of lack of Bud Light sales. The fall-out of the controversy is being felt by retailers, distributors, bars, and contracted companies.

Many workers at the plants are not surprised by this development. They have noticed a decrease in production since the beer’s collaboration with Dylan Mulvaney on social media. One machine repair mechanic referred to “the Bud Light situation” when stating that the drop in demand forced the plants to put some of their machines offline. An internal Ardagh Group memo notes that executives planned to shut down the two plants “due to slow sales with Anheuser-InBev.’

Employees at the Wilson, South Carolina plant reportedly said their manager confirmed to them that they were shuttering its doors because of the Bud Light boycott.

“‘Because of Budweiser no longer selling the bottle, they no longer needed our product,” David Williams, a machine repair mechanic, told WRAL.

The blame does not go to Dylan Mulvaney in this tragedy. He was hired to do a job – promote Bud Light in character. He presents himself as a young woman online and a misguided marketing director thought a collaboration with him would be just the ticket to broaden Bud Light’s customer base. That quickly blew up in their faces. Mulvaney was ghosted by the company and a boycott by customers quickly meant that Bud Light remained on store shelves. If the product isn’t selling, there is no need to bottle it. The human cost of a really bad corporate decision continue to be felt by people who had nothing to do with it.

Despite efforts to stop the bleeding, the controversy lingers. Bud Light tried to help distributors by increasing its marketing budget and launching a new summer ad campaign. CEO Brandon Whitworth sat for an interview with CBS Mornings to try and do some clean-up. It is going to take more than a lame commercial and the explanation from a tone-deaf CEO to win back customers.

It is incredible that the one thing that customers wanted to make things right was just an apology from the company. That is the missing part of Bud Light’s strategy to get back on track. The CEO looks like he doesn’t even respect his customers enough to admit a mistake and ask for forgiveness. That is the arrogance and cluelessness that tanked the brand.

How about some “free” beer? Well, kinda. Bud Light is offering a $15 rebate on a 15-pack of Bud Light purchased between June 15 and July 8. The beer isn’t free when purchased at the store, of course. The customer purchases the beer and then has to submit a form for a rebate. The company said to ‘allow two to four weeks for receipt of your rebate’ and the rebate offer can be used for three purchases. That’s a total of $45 savings if people are stocking up for the holiday weekend.

Consumers will be reimbursed through a prepaid card. Rebates have to be submitted by July 22 and the card is valid for six months.

It remains to be seen if any of this works to increase sales. A similar promotion was offered over Memorial Day weekend.

Anheuser-Busch’s other US brands – including Budweiser, Michelob Ultra and Natural Light – have also seen a significant decline in sales since the controversy.

Bud is down 10 percent, while Natty Light and Michelob are down 2.3 and 2.4 percent, respectively.

Despite the horrendous partnership, US Anheuser-Busch CEO Brendan Whitworth didn’t completely rule out working with Mulvaney again, refusing to say if the company would reconsider.

He insisted that his priority was his employees and added that they had poured three times the amount of investment into Bud Light for this year – as the company has lost a staggering $20billion in market cap.

The company also denies it fired two top marketing executives over the campaign. Group Vice President of Marketing Daniel Blake and Bud Light Marketing Vice President Alissa Heinerscheid were put on a leave of absence shortly after the campaign dropped.

Color me skeptical that a $15 rebate sets things straight with consumers.