Major
corporations are increasingly expected to play a societal role beyond just
providing goods or services: more and more often, they’re expected to weigh in
on issues of public morality.
In
the most instance, the CEOs of Merck and UnderArmor stepped
down from the White House manufacturing council following Trump’s initial
response to the Charlottesville violence that was widely panned in the media as
insufficiently tough on white nationalists. Both CEOs’ decisions to step down
received applause from public figures, including in the media. “I’m going out
to buy Under Armour,” declared MSNBC host Joe Scarborough.
Domain
hosting company GoDaddy.com booted neo-Nazi website the Daily Stormer from its
servers late Sunday night, citing violations of its terms of service after the
website posted an article trashing the 32-year-old woman who died on
Saturday. (RELATED: Mother Of Charlottesville
Victim Thanks Trump For Condemning Neo-Nazis, White Supremacists)
In
one high-profile instance of corporate preening, Starbucks announced — as a
direct rebuke to Trump’s travel ban — that it would be hiring 10,000 refugees in
75 countries over the next five years.
Companies
who take an insufficient moral stance on public issues — as determined by
left-wing activists — can oftentimes find themselves targeted by those
activists. (RELATED: Google And Facebook
Co-Sponsoring Protest Of Pro-Life Women’s Health Care Clinic)
Left-wing
activists have continued to target Chick-Fil-A — not because they have any
issues with the company’s policies or standards of service, but because they
disagree with statements the company CEO made about gay marriage in 2012,
citing his Christian faith. (RELATED: Catholic University
Caves To LGBT Pressure, Rejects Chick-Fil-A)
Video
of protesters in New York on Monday showed them targeting Chick-Fil-A at an
event ostensibly meant to protest the president. “Hey hey! Ho ho! Chick-Fil-A
has got to go!” they shouted at the fast food restaurant.
Corporations
are increasingly expected by leftist activists to make moral judgments through
their advertising budgets as well. Fox News cancelled “The O’Reilly Factor” in
April after advertisers pulled their money from
the show amidst a slew of sexual harassment accusations against host Bill
O’Reilly. The advertisers pulled the ads following an intense pressure campaign
from left-wing activists who claimed the advertisers had a moral obligation to
defund “The O’Reilly Factor.”
Media
Matters and other left-wing activists have launched similar efforts to take
down Fox News host Sean Hannity. Those efforts have been unsuccessful so far,
although they remain ongoing. (RELATED: Media Matters Is
Coming For Sean Hannity’s Advertisers — And His Job)
Advertisers
have also received high praise for morally condemning use of their products for
perceived racist actions or statements.
On
Sunday, Tiki Torch denounced white
nationalists’ use of their torches at the rally in Charlottesville. It’s not
immediately clear what the company’s denunciation achieved besides earning
positive media coverage.
After
then-candidate Donald Trump was heard referencing candy Tic-Tacs on a tape
where he bragged about hitting on women and being able to grab women “by the
pussy,” the candy company condemned Trump’s comments. “Tic Tac respects
all women. We find the recent statements and behavior completely inappropriate
and unacceptable,” read a statement from the company.
In
a similar instance, Skittles weighed in after Donald Trump Jr. tweeted a picture of
a bowl of Skittles with the caption: “If I had a bowl of skittles and I told
you just three would kill you. Would you take a handful?” A vice-president at
the candy company issued a statement in response: “Skittles are candy. Refugees
are people….We don’t feel it is an appropriate analogy.”
After
President Trump was heard complimenting French first lady Brigitte Macron for
being “in such great shape,” the athletic company Reebok directly addressed
Trump’s comment in social media, arguing that it’s never appropriate to tell a
woman: “You’re in such good shape…beautiful.”
(As
many on social media pointed out, however,
Reebok has routinely used scantily-clad women to sell its products.)
Perhaps
the most consistent moral condemnation of Trump from the corporate sector came
after the president announced that the US would be withdrawing from the Paris
Climate Accords.
Dozens
of major companies — even companies whose products had little to nothing to do
with American energy policies — came out in full force against Trump’s
withdrawal from the climate deal.
“We
are deeply disappointed by the recent shift in climate policy,” read a
statement from athletic apparel company Nike. “Climate change is a serious
global threat,” Nike asserted, adding that “the world will need to radically
redesign industrial systems and economies in order to enable a low-carbon
growth economy.”
