In a shocking turn of events, Budweiser has announced that it will be laying off almost 200,000 employees following criticism from Elon Musk over a recent PR stunt gone wrong.
The feud began when Budweiser sent a few Bud Light cans to Dylan Mulvaney, who posted pictures of herself drinking them on Instagram. The move was supposed to be a clever marketing ploy, but it backfired when Musk criticized it on Twitter.
In response, Budweiser decided to fire almost all of its employees in a desperate attempt to save face. “We can’t have our brand associated with failure,” said a spokesperson for the company.
“We need to show the world that we are a strong and successful company, and the only way to do that is to eliminate any evidence to the contrary.”
The move has been met with outrage from both employees and consumers. “This is outrageous,” said one former employee. “To fire so many people over a social media spat is just insane. What did we do wrong? We were just doing our jobs.”
But Budweiser remains steadfast in its decision. “We stand by our actions,” said the spokesperson. “We are a company that values success above all else, and we will do whatever it takes to protect our brand.”
The fallout from this move remains to be seen, but one thing is clear: Budweiser’s reputation has taken a major hit. Consumers are no longer willing to tolerate companies that put profits above people, and it seems that Budweiser has learned this lesson the hard way.
So let this be a cautionary tale to all companies out there: think twice before engaging in risky PR stunts, or you could end up like Budweiser, with a tarnished reputation and a workforce decimated by layoffs.
