Why conservatives are at war with Disney and the brewery in the US

Conservatives believe their fight against wake-up culture in the corporate world is paying off.

In the United States, while conservatives are mobilizing on social issues, the Republican Party is clashing with the corporate world. But will the clashes shake his longstanding alliance with big business?

In the home of Sarah Fields, a Texas conservative activist and mother of three, some of America’s biggest brands are no longer welcome. You cut Disney first, because of kids’ shows featuring gay couples.

A boycott of Olay’s cosmetics and Bud Light maker Anheuser-Busch’s beer most recently began after learning that the companies had been working with transgender social media influencer Dylan Mulvaney.

“My focus is on protecting children, and the first time I saw companies promoting any kind of LGBTQ ideology or any kind of trans ideology towards children was when I really started paying more attention,” she says. “There are so many different ones [agora]I can barely keep up.”

Sarah, 36, has become politically active during the COVID-19 pandemic, protesting the measures confinement.

Now a GOP delegate in her state, she is one of those pushing the party to mobilize on social issues such as gender identity and to hire “woke” companies.

The term “woke” means, according to the Oxford Dictionary, “to be aware of social and political issues, especially racism”. However, it can be used as an insult “by people who think that others are too easily upset by these issues, or talk about them too much, without promoting any change”. Find out more in this report.

Companies have already found themselves caught in the crossfire of America’s culture wars. And as the country becomes more polarized, companies are coming under pressure from employees, customers and shareholders left and right to choose sides.

But the business-focused legislative measures mark a new frontier for Republicans, who have traditionally sided with big business on issues like tax cuts and light regulation.

In Florida, state lawmakers voted to strip Disney of power over a district that includes the Walt Disney World theme park, after the conglomerate criticized a law banning discussions of gender and sexuality in schools.

In Georgia, lawmakers threatened to withdraw a tax break for Delta Airlines after its chief executive called changes to voting laws “unacceptable”.

Meanwhile, dozens of states are considering proposals to prevent the government from doing business with financial firms that take environmental, social and governance factors into account when making investments, which has cost BlackRock a major campaign focus. , over $4 billion in client funds since January.

The measures have been considered controversial, even among Republicans: some of them say the proposals go too far by interfering in private affairs.

Proponents show no remorse.

“My job is to protect taxpayers and my constituents from abuse, no matter where it comes from,” says Blaise Ignoglia, one of the Florida state senators who backed the Disney-related legislation, a fight that has now evolved into a battle. legal for free speech expression.

“They turned their backs on parents and children when they decided to support the sexualization of our most vulnerable young people.”

Ignoglia says he’s not worried about confronting Disney, which has backed him in the past and has great economic and political clout in Florida.

On the contrary, she says, “I live in the second reddest (color associated with Republicans) district in the state. My constituents are like-minded.”

Big business has lost control of the Republican Party as the party leans more to the right and gains support from college-less voters while losing ground among college students, says sociologist Mark Mizruchi, a professor at the University of Michigan, in the States United.

In 2022, the share of Republicans who said big corporations have a positive impact was 26 percent, on a par with Democrats and less than half the percentage three years earlier, according to the Pew Institute.

But Mizruchi argues that politicians’ attacks on companies to be “woke upare “mostly a smokescreen,” noting that on issues like unionism, taxation, and regulation, American and Republican business leaders remain closely aligned.

In the 2022 election cycle, the majority of official corporate political donations went to Republicans, as they have for nearly three decades, according to data from OpenSecrets.

“Republicans have to play this very careful game of backing the rich and big companies behind the scenes, but making it appear to the public that they are on the side of individuals,” says the professor.

“That’s why following ‘wokeism’ is a good way to do it, because it’s not a fundamental issue [para as corporações].”

The financial impact of the conservative backlash appears to be relatively small so far.

At BlackRock, lost funds represent less than 2% of your portfolio. The decline in Bud Light sales in the first three weeks of April reflects just 1% of Anheuser-Busch’s overall volume.

But the outcry has changed the mood, says Martin Whittaker, chief executive officer of Just Capital, a nonprofit that ranks companies on issues such as worker pay and environmental impact.

While many companies are still moving forward with internal initiatives, he says the public discussions have calmed down.

“You don’t see CEOs sticking out their necks.”

Disney, which ruled on the Florida bill under pressure from its employees, filed a lawsuit against the state. But other companies seem to have backed down.

In this year’s BlackRock annual letter, climate risks were barely mentioned, although the company acknowledged challenges due to “diverging views across regions.”

Credit card companies said they would delay changes that activists hoped would help track gun purchases, citing legal uncertainty. And some major financial firms, including Vanguard, have withdrawn from climate change initiatives, indicating “confusion” about their views.

Will Hild is the chief executive officer of Consumers’ Research, a group that since 2021 has run multimillion-dollar ad campaigns targeting companies like Nike, American Airlines, Major League Baseball and Levi’s to put “policies”woke up‘ above the interests of the consumer”.

“People forget that in the spring of 2021 there were companies engaged in statewide election integrity discussions in Georgia and Texas,” he says. “You haven’t seen that in subsequent years, and for us, that’s an indication that our campaigns have been successful.”

Last month, after weeks of attacks by conservative analysts and politicians on Anheuser-Busch over its partnership with Dylan Mulvaney, the company furloughed two executives and ran a series of Bud Light ads filled with images of flags American and galloping horses in an open field. field.

The company, which did not respond to the BBC’s request for comment, said it did not want to be “part of a conversation that divides people”.

Criticized by some on the left, the about-face was seen by Sarah as a victory.

“What happened with Bud Light is a great start and should be the same for all companies,” he says. “We need to be less afraid and we need to start using our voice more.”

Source: Terra

Rose

Rose James is a Gossipify movie and series reviewer known for her in-depth analysis and unique perspective on the latest releases. With a background in film studies, she provides engaging and informative reviews, and keeps readers up to date with industry trends and emerging talents.