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Bud Light has seen its sales plummet after a boycott of the popular tailgate beer brand. The controversy followed its promotion with transgender influencer Dylan Mulvaney.

Bud Light’s parent company Anheuser-Busch announced it is firing 350 employees across its US corporate staff. And has plans to restructure the beer empire.

The company was clear that the layoffs will not hit the company’s frontline workers such as the “brewery and warehouse staff, drivers, and field sales, among others.”

In a statement Thursday, the company said the layoffs, mostly corporate positions, would affect less than 2 percent of its employees.

“Today we took the very difficult but necessary decision to eliminate a number of positions across our corporate organization,” Anheuser-Busch CEO Brendan Whitworth said. “While we never take these decisions lightly, we want to ensure that our organization continues to be set for future long-term success.”

The move, per the statement, would “simplify and reduce layers within its organization.”

Bud Light sales continue to drop

Bud Light made national headlines when it lost the title of No. 1 beer in America. It lost its status as America’s top-selling beer, a title it held for more than twenty years. It was dethroned by Mexican lager Modelo Especial as a result of the boycott.

Sales in the last week of June were down nearly 28% year on year, according to Nielsen IQ data cited by Bump Williams Consulting.

Last month, Bud Light launched a summer ad campaign with weekly $10,000 giveaways to boost sales. This tactic didn’t stop the bleeding.

Earlier this month, the beer’s Fourth of July message was met with backlash. Consumers took aim, once again at the beer company after it posted on social media, “It’s 4th of July weekend, enjoy some beer.”

It was the same week Dylan Mulvaney, a Transgender influencer, said she felt abandoned by Bud after facing “more bullying and transphobia than I could have ever imagined” over her partnership with the beer giant.

To make matters worse Florida’s Governor DeSantis expressed concerns about Anheuser-Busch’s actions. He is questioning whether the company pursued a political agenda at the expense of its shareholders. 

The Dylan Mulvaney controversy created an immediate backlash and continues to impact the brand. And after months of turmoil, the company announced the layoffs.