Bud Light parent lays off 350 workers as sales continue slide after Dylan Mulvaney fiasco

Anheuser-Busch has laid off hundreds of workers across the United States as fallout from the Bud Light debacle continues. The beer giant has struggled to regain the confidence of customers since it decided to partner with notorious trans TikTok influencer Dylan Mulvaney in April.

The company currently employs 18,000 people across the United States, meaning the cuts will only shrink the workforce by 2 percent. According to CNBC, the company has laid off around 350 people.



"While we never take these decisions lightly," Anheuser-Busch North America CEO Brendan Whitworth said in a statement, according to the Wall Street Journal, "we want to ensure that our organization continues to be set for future long-term success. These corporate structure changes will enable our teams to focus on what we do best—brewing great beer for everyone."

The cuts are not expected to impact those doing work on the brewery floor, rather they will impact employees in the marketing department and those working at corporate offices in New York, St. Louis, and Los Angeles. 

Despite the backlash caused by their decision to partner with Mulvaney, the ad agency responsible for the decision won top honors at an industry awards ceremony in June. 

Since partnering with Mulvaney, Bud Light has seen its brand tarred and feathered online, with many would-be customers heeding critics' calls to boycott the beer. The campaigns eventually led to cases of Bud Light remaining on shelves, with shop owners reducing the price to the point of almost giving it away. By June, Bud Light had been dethroned by Modelo as America's top-selling beer.

The company's stock has fallen by 11 percent in three months, though it has since slightly bounced back from its lowest point.

As the Wall Street Journal reports, Anheuser-Busch's most recent quarterly financial results, which are expected to be released in the coming days, will show just how much of a toll the partnership with Mulvaney and the ensuing backlash had on its bottom line.