Kerby Anderson

In previous commentaries, I have talked about woke corporations and the inevitable corporate backlash. It is worth discussing how some of this has occurred.

Brittany Bernstein talks about some of the people and organizations that have brought pressure to these businesses and corporations. Two she mentioned have been on my radio program: David Bahnsen (a financial adviser) and Lathan Watts (VP of public affairs for Alliance Defending Freedom).

Many of the companies have seen what happened with Target and Bud Light. But others did not change until David Bahnsen filed a shareholder resolution calling for the company to account for its discriminatory ad purchases and DEI programs. Corporate executives often decide not to even fight the issue at a shareholders’ meeting.

The recent victory in dealing with PepsiCo is a clear indication. They adopted a policy of viewpoint neutrality in choosing where to place their ads in exchange for Bahnsen withdrawing his resolution from the ballot. Alliance Defending Freedom has a viewpoint diversity business index that rates companies “on issues that are scored on the index, ranging from censorship issues to debanking, DEI to ESG.”

As I have also discussed in previous commentaries, the problem of debanking is an issue that needs to be addressed. JPMorgan Chase had a history of debanking customers for religious or political reasons. Because of the pressure from Bahnsen and ADF, JPMorgan Chase adopted into its code of conduct protections against religious and political viewpoint discrimination.

These actions coupled with policies from the Trump administration and a Supreme Court ruling on affirmative action are making incremental changes in the corporate culture. These are encouraging signs.