Nope it doesn't:

  //GCC:  -O0
  //MSVC: /Od
  #include <memory.h>
  #include <stdio.h>
  struct S { unsigned char x; int y; };
  int f(int f) { S a; memset(&a, f, sizeof(a)); unsigned char y[2]; memcpy(&y, &a, sizeof(y)); return y[1]; }
  int g() { S a = { 1, 2 }; unsigned char y[2]; memcpy(&y, &a, sizeof(y)); return y[1]; }
  int main(int argc, char *argv[]) { f(0xDD); printf("%#x\n", g()); f(0xFF); printf("%#x\n", g()); }

It definitely seems like the author didn't realize this fact, or I'd have expected it to be addressed in the article.