As my grandfather used to say, you can teach 'em, but you can't learn 'em.
Case in point: Even after the examples set by several clueless American companies, including the notorious Bud Light/Dylan Mulvaney misstep, a New Zealand sports equipment company again tripped over its own extended "woke" and has lost millions. The company is KMD Brands, more specifically, its subordinate company Rip Curl. Rip Curl makes gear for surfers, and for a long time has had as its spokesman Bethany Hamilton. She's a great representative; at age 13, she lost an arm to a shark attack, but has gone on to become a champion surfer as well as a wife and mom. Great representative for a surging gear company, right?
Well, Rip Curl replaced Bethany with one "Sasha" Lowerson, a "transgender woman" who has a face like an Easter Island statue and an Adam's apple that makes it look as though he is in the process of swallowing a whole grapefruit. He doesn't even remotely look feminine, and now KMD Brands is wondering why they're losing millions.
After Anheuser-Busch decided to partner with self-proclaimed transgender influencer Dylan Mulvaney — a man pretending to be a woman — for an ad campaign featuring him drinking Bud Light in 2023, Fox Business reported sales were down 29.9 percent for the week ending in January 2024 when compared to the previous year.
That was 2023. Companies have had time to learn that customers did not want to see delusional men play dress up in a marketing effort, but here we are.
Kathmandu Holdings, known as KMD Brands, has reported an $82.9 million loss after a boycott in 2024 over a decision to use another so-called transgender surfer to promote the sport to women.
The U.K.’s Daily Mail reported this is its biggest loss in a decade.
Well, duh. Just have a look at the two people in question:
Rip Curl - a famous surfing brand - have dropped Bethany Hamilton (who lost her arm in a shark attack) from their ad campaigns.
— Jill Foster (@JournalistJill) January 26, 2024
They have instead used Sasha Lowerson to advertise women’s surfing.
Their total contempt could not be more clear. pic.twitter.com/Gmc2n5aL0s
Hint: There's no way a big, burly, broad-shouldered dude is going to pass for a woman, no matter how long he lets his hair grow.
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Total contempt is exactly the right term here. This is the same kind of contempt for actual women that leads people to think it's OK to not only let dudes like Sasha Lowerson compete against real women in sports, but also to share their locker rooms and showers. And, once again, I'm extremely skeptical about any of these dudes actually having gender dysphoria; I suspect strongly that most of them are taking advantage of this social contagion to open doors that should have remained closed to them.
Companies like KMD brands are catering to these cheaters. Or are they? They've lost $82.9 million to boycotts in 2024. How many more companies will have to get woke and go broke before they figure this out? And how many more real women will be denied opportunities and honors in the meantime?
J.K. Rowling, want to weigh in on this?
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