The maker of Jack Daniel’s whisky said it will pull back on its DEI initiatives, buckling to pressure on social media as an “anti-woke” activist said he was preparing to launch a boycott.
Spirits giant Brown-Forman Corp. — with a market capitalization of $21.37 billion — is the latest company to scrap its diversity, equity and inclusion program, following Harley-Davidson, Tractor Supply and John Deere.
Major firms that rely heavily on a red state clientele have been caving to boycott pressure from corporate activist Robby Starbuck, who said Jack Daniel’s was next on the list, but that the company reversed its policies before he got the chance to lead a boycott.
“We’re now forcing multi-billion dollar organizations to change their policies without even posting just from fear they have of being the next company that we expose,” Starbuck said on X.
Brown-Forman will stop linking bonuses and pay to DEI progress, end its participation in an annual ranking of companies with an LGBTQ-friendly environment and throw out its plans to push for a more diverse group of suppliers, according to a copy of an internal memo posted on X.
The company previously tied 10% of executives’ short-term compensation to progress on DEI goals, according to a 2023 annual report.
The Kentucky-based company first launched its DEI goals in 2019.
“Since then, the world has evolved, our business has changed, and the legal and external landscape has shifted dramatically, particularly within the United States,” company executives told employees in a letter on Wednesday.
“With these new dynamics at play, we must adjust our work to ensure it continues to drive business results while appropriately recognizing the current environment in which we find ourselves.”
Brown-Forman shares dipped less than 1% on Thursday.
Social activists called for big businesses to implement sweeping DEI programs just a few years ago — and now those same companies are responding to cries to cut those goals, largely led by Starbuck on X.
“I mean the name diversity, equity, inclusion — you would think that’s a good thing,” Mahoney Asset Management CEO Ken Mahoney told The Post. “But the way the companies express it, you squeeze out other potential employees that could have even better performance.”
Mahoney said companies including Tesla, Home Depot, Wayfair and Walmart have been phasing out their DEI leadership goals since consumers started threatening them with boycotts.
“It hurts their image because consumers feel like they’re not putting the best people in place, but rather keeping score,” Mahoney told The Post. “And for this group of consumers, we’re not born and raised this way.”
Just 38% of Americans want companies to take a stance on current events and policies, according to a Gallup-Bentley University survey.
And DEI goals have become more political, with conservative activists calling the programs unfair while liberal activists say the opposite.
In addition to DEI policies, Starbuck targets companies that participate in the Human Rights Campaign’s ranking of LGBTQ-friendly workplaces — which previously awarded Brown-Forman a perfect score of 100.
“Jack Daniels has clearly reached the sobering conclusion that being hyper focused on factors other than merit do not increase the bottom line,” psychotherapist Jonathan Alpert told The Post.
“In fact, we need not look any further than Target and Bud Light to see how making the move from that of retailers to social justice warriors does not lead to best outcomes, increased sales, and improved public image.”
Target lost $10 billion in market valuation in a 10-day period last year when customers boycotted the company after it launched its Pride collection, which included clothing for children.
A Target shareholder filed a lawsuit last year against the company after their shares lost $20,000 during the Pride collection controversy.
Bud Light sales tanked after the beer company launched an ad with transgender social media influencer Dylan Mulvaney last year.
Alpert said DEI policies can create a perception of unfairness and alienate employees.
He said his own patients have grown to resent these policies because they feel like they are being passed over for promotions and jobs on the basis of ethnic background or sexuality.
“If DEI initiatives were working, we wouldn’t be having this discussion about them right now,” Alpert told The Post. “In fact, more companies would be hopping on the bandwagon — but they’re not.”
