Thanks to Bud Light Controversy, Bottling Plants are Shutting Down Leaving 600 Employees Without Jobs

A glass bottling company damaged by Bud Light‘s disastrous marketing with transgender celebrity Dylan Mulvaney will close two of its locations, laying off more than 600 workers as the beer brand continues to suffer massive financial losses and plummeting sales.

The Ardagh Group, a global glass producer that works with Anheuser-Busch, announced that their operations in North Carolina and Louisiana will close in July, laying off approximately 645 workers, according to WRAL.

The bottling company did not reveal the reason for the move, but according to WRAL, the plants are closing due to slumping Bud Light sales, as retailers, distributors, bars, and contracted companies face the wrath of nationwide boycotts over the controversial Bud Light partnership that celebrated Mulvaney’s “365 Days of Girlhood.”

Workers at both bottling plants reportedly observed a drop in output after Mulvaney’s social media video announcing the collaboration went viral in April, according to WRAL.

According to a machine maintenance mechanic, the decline in demand led the Louisiana and North Carolina plants to shut down some of their machinery, which he linked to “the Bud Light situation.”

In an internal Ardagh Group memo acquired by WRAL, management stated that the two plants would be closed “due to slow sales with Anheuser-InBev.”

Longtime employees told the newspaper that they were not surprised by the decision, given that making bottles for Budweiser and Bud Light constituted a big part of their business at those sites.

Employees at the Wilson, South Carolina factory reportedly stated that their management verified to them that the plant was closing due to the Bud Light boycott.

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

Anheuser Busch should have thought it through before insulting their core consumer base. Though their CEO made some statements, he still hasn’t apologized, and it looks like the company is going to continue to support LGBTQ events. The corporation sponsored a Pride event in Canada last weekend. It’s like the executives at InBev can’t learn the lesson that former consumers are teaching them.

Bud Light sales have dropped after the brewery gave Mulvaney special cans in April to commemorate a complete year of “girlhood.”

A second video subsequently showed Mulvaney in a bathtub drinking a Bud Light beer, sparking outrage online and nationwide boycotts, resulting in a sales drop that has yet to recover.

The brand, which has already lost billions of dollars in market value, has responded by dramatically reducing beer and offering rebates that make Bud Light “basically free to consumers” in some countries.

The brewery has also taken steps to assist distributors, raised its marketing budget, created a new summer ad campaign, and sent CEO Brendan Whitworth on “CBS Mornings” to provide clarity on the now-infamous disaster.

Despite their best efforts, the backlash against the Bud Light brand appears to be lingering, as beer sales continue to fall.

Bud Light sales were down 24.4% year on year for the week ending June 3, according to NiselsenIQ data provided to FOX Business by Bump Williams Consulting.

For the four-week and single-week periods ending June 3, Modelo Especial surpassed Bud Light as the top selling beer brand in terms of dollars.

Mulvaney recently slammed the Bud Light controversy, stating it sparked “more transphobia than I could’ve ever imagined.”

The trans influencer also chastised the corporation for failing to help Mulvaney while he fought with “transphobia.”