Turns out it’s still hammering the company’s bottom line.
Hey, remember when the conventional wisdom about the Bud Light boycott was that it was a minor, online-activist-driven controversy that would have few if any real-world effects? Good times, good times, as they used to say in those Saturday Night Live sketches making fun of NPR. I’m so old, I can remember when I was being told “protests are febrile and storms often pass as rapidly as they have erupted.” You know, in late April.
Now, as our Caroline Downey reports, Modelo Especial overtook the brand as the top-selling U.S. beer in May, and Bud Light distributors are lamenting to the Wall Street Journal, “our year is screwed.”
The sense that “storms often pass as rapidly as they have erupted” may well be true, in the sense that some corners of corporate America appear to be losing interest in trendy progressive causes as quickly as they embraced them.
The Wall Street Journal reports, “Companies Quiet Diversity and Sustainability Talk Amid Culture War Boycotts.” A review found that “companies’ mentions of green and social initiatives during earnings calls have fallen off sharply in recent quarters.” Go figure, shareholders might be more interested in what the company is doing to make money.
“Bud Light, Target, and a New Era of Corporate Caution,” laments New York magazine. In that article, political scientist and management scholar Daniel Diermeier warns companies, “I think this is really treacherous territory, because there are so few issues right now where there is consensus. The temptation to lean in on political debates is nontrivial, but it can really come back to bite you.”
“Corporate America is staying quiet on anti-trans bills,” bemoans Axios. That article quotes former North Carolina governor Pat McCrory, a Republican, who said that when it comes to social issues like guns, gender identity, and abortion, “it’s just a lose-lose for them to get involved, and they’re going to now stay in their lanes.”
The union of Starbucks workers claims that the chain has banned Pride Month decorations, but the company denies the charge.
And those bomb threats made to Target stores were, apparently, the work of someone who accused Target of betraying the LGBTQ+ community.
In light of all this, it is not difficult to envision corporate executives concluding that taking a side in political fights or culture wars just isn’t worth it, and that these efforts are destined to alienate more customers than they will attract.