From Race Hustlers to Trans Hustlers. What's Next?
The Budweiser and Nike glamorization of mental illness evolved from the race hustler's playbook. They are being exorted, but seem to be suffering from Stockholm Syndrome. Will others follow?
I dislike - despise - mentioning Dylan Mulvaney’s name as much as I abhor mentioning the name of Audrey Hale, the now-dead transgender “victim” who mowed down three young children and three innocent adults trying to protect them at a Covenant Christian School in Nashville late last month.
For different reasons, of course. Admittedly, it’s not fair to compare a mentally-challenged clown with a deranged murderer. Mulvaney, a “trans female,” didn’t kill anyone and is not in the same criminal category as Hale. But for different reasons, both are societally destructive. Give Mulvaney credit for taking a less destructive approach to acting out his mental disorder. The question is, why are consumer goods product companies glamorizing it? Spare me the “diversity,” “inclusion,” and “acceptance” sloganeering.
To quote the infamous US Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Little Mogadishu, MN), it’s about the Benjamins. Except that wacky Portland-based Nike, a long-time champion of Chinese slave labor, and AmBev, the Belgian owner of Budweiser and Bud Light, may have miscalculated. Very badly. We shall see.
He and Hale (sorry, not sorry, but Mulvaney’s a biological male) used different playbooks to advance their respective causes.
Why is Mulvaney suddenly making millions and having his mug and goofy exercise routines appear on Bud Light cans, Nike ads, and my Twitter feed?
Extortion.
Don’t take my word for it. Let’s consult Robert Spencer, writing for PJ Media, with emphasis added:
The New York Post reported Friday that “executives at companies like Nike, Anheuser-Busch and Kate Spade, whose brand endorsements have turned controversial trans influencer Dylan Mulvaney into today’s woke ‘It girl,’ aren’t just virtue signaling.” Instead, they’re paying the modern-day equivalent of Mafia protection money, trying to keep the heat off their business: they’re hiring Dylan and making other displays of wokeness “because they have to — or risk failing an all-important social credit score that could make or break their businesses.” If they don’t inflict woke advertising campaigns on us, they’re liable to do damage to their Corporate Equality Index (CEI) score, which could be disastrous for their business.
Watching corporations and tallying up their CEI score is the Human Rights Campaign (HRC), which the Post describes as “the largest LGBTQ+ political lobbying group in the world,” noting that it has gotten “millions” from George Soros’ far-Left Open Society Foundation. HRC gives corporations points for being gay-friendly and subtracts them for daring not to toe the woke line. It does this based on “rating criteria” that award up to 100 points for workplace features such as a “gender-neutral dress code” and “data collection forms” that feature “optional questions on sexual orientation and gender identity.”
The main CEI categories include “Workforce Protections,” “Inclusive Benefits,” “Supporting an Inclusive Culture,” “Corporate Social Responsibility,” and “Responsible Citizenship.” According to the Post, “businesses that attain the maximum 100 total points earn the coveted title ‘Best Place To Work For LGBTQ Equality.” The corporate giants have eagerly fallen into line: “Fifteen of the top 20 Fortune-ranked companies received 100% ratings last year, according to HRC data.” Nor is it just the top corporations: “More than 840 US companies racked up high CEI scores, according to the latest report.”
This tactic - creating an index to incentivize companies to procure bragging rights - wasn’t started by the Human Rights Campaign. In recent years it has been championed by many environmental organizations, investor groups such as Blackrock and Ceres, and even one to make corporate “political spending” more transparent and accountable. That’s so they can apply public pressure to force disfavored companies to do the politically correct thing or neuter them.
Make no mistake, these organizations talk to each other and often work in tandem, especially when bills emerge in states they can rally against. And the media is ready to regurgitate whatever these organizations and their allies feed them.
A few years ago, they cut their teeth on “bathroom bills,” which emerged in North Carolina and Texas in 2016. Conservative state legislators convinced themselves they were protecting biological women, especially very young ones, from what would later happen in a Loudoun County, Virginia public school. They were caught blindsided by the political juggernaut that ensued.
Trans activists largely won those earlier battles, at least in the media, as many companies went public against legislation that had no impact on their operations in the state (if they had any - many did not). The legislation only dealt with restroom access in public buildings, not private ones. The but the virtue signal was on. Tech companies like Apple and Google led the way, but the pressure was on other companies, including the iconic Campbell Soup, to join them.
The pressure didn’t necessarily come from outside organizations and their virtue-signaling indexes. It came from a small if noisy gang of employees. Company HR departments made it a cause to attract the best and brightest young talent emerging from indoctrination centers we call colleges and universities. One CEO I know made it a cause celebre to comprise most of the workforce with millennials, edging (forcing) out aging baby boomers. This CEO said she wanted the company’s workforce to look more like their customers, 18-34-year-old millennials. Especially the marketers. She wasn’t alone.
But the extortion began well before that, with race hustlers like Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton. They wrote the book that social justice warriors, climate cultists, and radical trans activists are now amending, running with, and succeeding beyond Jackson’s and Sharpton’s wildest dreams.
And let’s add Colin Kaepernick to that list. And many others, some of whom have gratefully faded from the scene.
I won’t go into great detail but suffice it to say the “race hustle” consisted of Jesse Jackson or others calling corporate offices, asking for money for his Rainbow Coalition or other “projects,” or risking having him call you “racist.” No company wants that, and many coughed up dollars. Al Sharpton succeeded him, as have others.
I would know. A call to my former corporate employer from Jackson came to me. I successfully dissuaded him from “pursuing” a “relationship” with us. Years earlier, I had the “honor” of sitting next to him in 1989 at the inauguration of a new Navajo Nation President in Arizona. I knew his schtick.
It works the same way now with the trans activist community. Give us money, meet our demands, score really high on our indexes, or risk being branded as “transphobic,” intolerant, or worse. Jackson, Sharpton, and their ilk must be amazed at their success. But in fairness, they wrote the playbook—at least the first one.
The question is, why are companies like AmBev and Nike so bent on wokeness? When you think of beer, you’re more likely to think of country music, NASCAR, and baseball games than you are Dylan Mulvaney. Nike has made billions off the images and names of great athletes, especially in basketball (“Air Jordan”) but across the political and gender (both of them) spectrum.
The reason is simple. The power of the woke marketplace is, apparently, stronger than it is for normal Americans, despite the belief, if not the fact, that the latter outweighs the former. Normal Americans don’t do boycotts. They’re too busy living normal lives and want the same products and toys others enjoy. They often don’t have time or thoughts for political considerations when running through grocery stores when a hungry family is waiting for dinner.
The woke left makes time for politics. It’s their avocation, if not their religion.
Where are the “indexes” and investor funds promoting more traditional American values?
Well, they actually exist. You never hear about them.
I’m only aware of two major anti-woke, anti-ESG (Environmental, Social, Governance, or “evading the scrutiny of government”) hedge or investor groups such as Strive, started by GOP Presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy, and the Ave Maria Funds, which invest based on traditional Catholic values (e.g., pro-life).
As for indexes, I’m only aware of one, 2nd Vote.
What, you haven’t heard of them? Now you have. If you know of others, please share them.
2ndVote.com does a terrific job on company contrasts and exposing companies who, for example, score 100 percent on the Human Rights Campaign’s extreme trans and LGBTQ+ agenda.
They don’t stop there. The far-left and corrupt race hustlers at the Southern Poverty Law Center are also high on their list, along with the very corrupt Black Lives Matter organization. They take no prisoners.
Why are there no other indexes? Where is the attention to the behavior of woke corporate overlords and their fellow travelers? Why are so few alternatives being presented for conservative-minded investors and consumers?
To be fair, many such alternatives are under development, some more controversial than others. Gab.com’s Andrew Torba, an unashamed “Christian Nationalist,” has developed a social media enterprise, alternative payment system, and more. Dan Bongino, a former Secret Service agent who protected President Obama and the two-time congressional candidate is doing the same.
AMAC (the Association of Mature American Citizens) has emerged as a competitor to the left-leaning AARP (American Association of Retired Persons). Alternative payment systems to the woke Pal Pal, Venmo (same ownership), and others hopefully are in development. AMAC has discounts and alternatives to Obamacare that may interest you. I’m a member.
Because if they don’t rapidly emerging social credit scores may overwhelm you or leave you in the dust.
Want to buy a gun for self-defense, legally? Sorry, but the pressure is on Visa, MasterCard, Pay Pal, Venmo, and others not to process or at least track those purchases for the government and gun control groups.
The corporate titans hustling for 100 percent scores from the Human Rights Campaign and others are in the throes of Stockholm Syndrome - taking on the persona of their captors. They need to be freed, and only the marketplace will do that.
So while you may bristle and ignore Dylan Mulvaney’s scores of big endorsement contracts, following on the heels of cretins like Colin Kaepernick and others, the new “hustles” are on, and most of your favorite consumer goods companies are all in.
Are you?
Disclosure: I am a former employee of Campbell Soup Company.
No artificial intelligence was used to research or write this post. I'll leave that to you whether intelligence of any kind was used.