It’s been a matter of some debate whether or not the right – or, more accurately, those who are not-insane or far-left – should engage in the same boycott tactics as the left. After all, the endless boycotts and social media hysterias of the left have been devastatingly effective in crushing corporate culture beneath the neo-Marxist jackboot.
Yet, every time conservatives do run a boycott campaign, they are met with sneers and derision from the left, and hand-wringing from the “polite right”. Both point fingers and accuse conservatives of joining in the very Cancel Culture they condemn.
But boycotting a product is not at all the same as demanding the cancellation and un-personing of an actor, writer or CEO. The former is merely a consumer’s sovereign decision on how to spend their money in accordance with their values; the latter is a modern auto-da-fé.
Of course, the whole issue could be solved if celebrities and companies would just shut their damn yaps and do what they’re paid to: sing and dance, or run their business. But, quite the opposite, it’s getting impossible to turn on the TV or buy a product without being hectored, finger-wagged, brow-beaten and virtue-signalled about whatever the latest “woke” talking-point may be.
It’s increasingly clear that the sharp increase in corporate virtue signalling after George Floyd’s death wasn’t a passing trend but a sea change. Perhaps it’s time for conservatives to boycott companies that hate us.
One of the current leftist hobby-horses is voter ID. Some form of voter ID is taken as a given in most democracies (despite claims by activists, Australia most certainly requires voter ID: when registering to vote in the first place, and, in a less-stringent but still rigorously cross-checked way, at the polling booth). But the demented left in the US would have us believe that it’s “racist” to expect black people to be able to do something as simple as show a driver’s licence (which makes one wonder who the real racists are).
Coca-Cola, Delta, Microsoft and other companies my family supports all but called the legislation racist, implying that those, like me, who support it are bigots. As distasteful as this is, I can’t say I’m surprised. When I look around my house, I see many products from woke companies that want me to know how strongly they disagree with me on pretty much every issue of the day.
In 2019 Gillette embarked on the curious marketing strategy of branding their entire customer base “toxic”.
But last month I learned that the new brand I’d chosen, Harry’s, had pulled its advertising from the Daily Wire, a conservative website I like. The razor company fled after a Twitter user with 29 followers complained that one of the Daily Wire’s podcasts “is spreading homophobic and transphobic content.” You might think it’d be easier to find a politically neutral shave, given that a majority of men are Republicans and companies generally play to their customer base. But this reality is apparently lost on Harry’s — and Gillette, or rather its parent company, Procter & Gamble.
Another P&G brand my family uses — Pantene shampoo — recently released a commercial about the life of a young transgender girl and her lesbian moms. “She has always been super gender creative, and hair has been a big part of her transition,” says one of the moms. At the end of the commercial, a banner reads, “PANTENE Family is #BEAUTIFULGBTQ — Proud to Support Transgender Visibility.” The ad has about six times as many dislikes as likes on YouTube, but that hasn’t given the company pause. It tweeted that “transphobia has no place in our world or in our feed.”
Unfortunately, companies can often rely on consumer inertia from everyone but the left. Where the left are often highly motivated to pursue boycotts, most people don’t really care. Much as I detest Netflix, for instance, I still haven’t got around to cancelling my subscription. I mean, I kinda want to watch Avatar: The Last Airbender again…
Unlike many on the left, I’m fine with companies not taking sides, and I don’t expect every company I patronise to embrace my views. But if Pantene can stand firm on behalf of transgender visibility, perhaps it’s time for conservatives to stiffen their spines, too. It doesn’t seem like too much to ask that the businesses I patronise refrain from actively and loudly despising me.
The Wall Street Journal
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