New report says companies are starting to avoid the culture war
Jack Elbaum
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During a 1990 Senate race, in which there was pressure on Michael Jordan to endorse a certain candidate, he refrained from doing so, famously saying, “Republicans buy sneakers, too.” The basic message of this quote was true then and is true now.
Unfortunately, in recent years, some companies seem to have forgotten this, opting instead to dive headfirst into the most controversial political and cultural matters of the day. We all know the recent examples: Bud Light recruiting Dylan Mulvaney to do an advertisement, Disney actively opposing a Florida law prohibiting instruction on sexual orientation and gender identity for grades K-3, the Los Angeles Dodgers honoring an anti-Catholic group, and the MLB “yanking” the All-Star Game from Georgia over a benign voting law.
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But a new Wall Street Journal report says this may not be the case for much longer. The Wall Street Journal explains: “What is changing now, executives and corporate advisers said, is that conservative groups and political leaders are pushing back against companies more forcefully. Consumers are also more openly expressing frustration that companies are airing views in ways some don’t welcome.” As opposed to past approaches, current backlashes have “more teeth,” one former Disney high-up said.
In interviews with various executives, it is made clear that these companies are calculating all the costs and benefits of speaking out on a given topic. At least one company “uses an internal scoring system to determine if, and when, it makes sense for the company to comment on matters that may offend some of its customers and employees or affect its brands.” In light of recent events, though, this company “reexamined an older evaluation process.”
This is a welcome development. In a free market system, companies are supposed to serve their customers and shareholders primarily — not environmental, social, and corporate governance regulations or the latest out-of-touch progressive piety.
There has always been a small but loud group of activists on the Left that has been quite successful in pressuring companies to do their bidding — even absent a real movement behind them. Even a few angry tweeters have sometimes been able to do the trick. However, in recent years, it seems that it has been much harder for conservatives to achieve any results at all. This only changed when the number of people resisting progressive activism by companies reached levels where it could actually affect their bottom line.
There are a million different incentives for companies to “go woke,” which puts conservatives at an immediate disadvantage. However, that is not a reason to throw up our hands and cede ground without pushback. It just means that conservatives must put in extra effort to make their voice heard. But we must also recognize this is not a good long-term arrangement.
The goal, therefore, should be to make the costs of involvement with hot-button matters impossible to ignore such that these corporations simply stay out of it going forward. The hope should be for a restoration of a genuine free market, properly understood, where the inorganic influence of outside factors such as ESG is diminished. This does not mean corporations would become activists on behalf of conservative causes, though. Oftentimes, there is prudence in restraint.
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After all, the weaponization of political and cultural power centers for ideological gain — creating real social discord, division, and a lack of cohesion among the public — is how we landed in the situation we are in today. It has caused a decline in institutional trust, a greater sense that our country is not headed in the right direction, and pure anger among people who need to figure out how to live in a society with one another.
There is no reason to exacerbate that.
Jack Elbaum is a summer 2023 Washington Examiner fellow.