Get woke, go broke.
While it wouldn’t be fair to say that Goodyear hasn’t gone broke, the sudden four percent dip in its stock price isn’t mysterious.
Goodyear’s stock fell because it did something that has often been a detriment to companies with few exceptions. It embraced a social justice message that was divisive as all social justice messaging today is.
As my colleague Mike Miller reported on it, Goodyear embraced “Black Lives Matter” and made it clear that it’s acceptable workplace conduct to talk about it and support it, however things like “Blue Lives Matter” or “All Lives Matter” is out of the question,
According to @goodyear tires, a MAGA shirt is a zero tolerance hate symbol. But Black Lives Matter is allowed. pic.twitter.com/1kWRqSDFQa
— Cernovich (@Cernovich) August 18, 2020
The backlash actually prompted two different responses from Goodyear. The first was from spokesperson Melissa Monaco:
“Goodyear is committed to fostering an inclusive and respectful workplace where all of our associates can do their best in a spirit of teamwork. As part of this commitment, we do allow our associates to express their support on racial injustice and other equity issues but ask that they refrain from workplace expressions, verbal or otherwise, in support of political campaigning for any candidate or political party as well as other similar forms of advocacy that fall outside the scope of equity issues.”
When the fervor only accelerated, Goodyear issued another official statement.
“Yesterday, Goodyear became the focus of a conversation that created some misconceptions about our policies and our company. Goodyear has always wholeheartedly supported both equality and law enforcement and will continue to do so,” tweeted Goodyear with a longer message embedded.
Yesterday, Goodyear became the focus of a conversation that created some misconceptions about our policies and our company. Goodyear has always wholeheartedly supported both equality and law enforcement and will continue to do so. pic.twitter.com/oO6jUg2rTR
— Goodyear (@goodyear) August 19, 2020
As I covered in more detail earlier today, Goodyear’s stock proceeded to drop. Neither of these explanations helped the situation, and I think only made it worse.
While it’s still yet to be seen, the monetary blowback for Goodyear is still on the horizon but judging by other companies who have embraced a woke message they’re not in for anything good.
Gillette lost $5.24 billion after they aired the sexist anti-male ad that made men’s very nature seem toxic and dangerous. The ad sent a wave of outrage throughout the nation and boycotts against Gillette began. While it’s unlikely that the largest razor company in the world is going to go the way of the dodo, it deserved to. It alienated a solid chunk of the American population in its attempt to virtue signal in the name of feminism.
It was just a bad business decision.
You may also recall Dick’s Sporting Goods made a huge virtue signal after the Parkland shooting which disgusted many people for many different reasons. For one, many saw the company using the deaths of children as a way to virtue signal in a bid to increase business. The other problem was that the virtue signal was hollow since the promise never to sell AR-15’s again wasn’t a problem for Dick’s since only a select few of its bigger stores did. The rest of them did not.
As a result, Dick’s lost $150 million in its annual revenue.
Interestingly enough, the CEO’s of both companies are on record saying that the loss in cash was worth the statement. The stockholders themselves have not been asked.
You don’t need to see it in department stores and shaving products either. Movies also suffer the curse of the broke when they go woke. The most obvious example is the 2016 remake of Ghostbusters which saw the all-female reboot crash in the box office. The movie was terrible by itself but the consistent promotion of it’s “wokeness” drove people away. They blamed hatred of the movie on sexism and never once stopped to consider the that their decisions did that to themselves.
Sports have also seen a massive decline in viewership and before we blame that on COVID we should take a look back at how the NFL suffered a massive decrease in eyeballs when the woke kneeling controversy took center stage in 2018.
(READ: The NFL Has Lost 33% of Its Viewers This Season Due to Boycotts)
How many people also watch the ridiculous celebrity award shows that have become stages for political propaganda and not a celebration of art?
The answer is “fewer and fewer.”
America isn’t as accepting of the intolerance and misplaced morality as the left thinks it is. The bubble it’s constructed around itself has not only protected them from information that may release them from the fantasy world they live in but it also prohibits them from hearing the boos coming from the general population every time is virtue signals.
Goodyear’s woke virtue signal is a long line in a list of examples of what not to do.
