A Very Expensive Lesson

Victoria’s Secret has learned a very expensive lesson. In 2020, even with the Covid shutdown, Victoria’s Secret made $7.5 billion. In 2021 they decided to go woke and made only $6.5 billion. In 2022 they made only $6.2 billion.

Where did they go wrong? They hired LGBT activist, Megan Rapinoe and recruited a transgender model, Valentina Sampaio. They also hired a long list of plus sized models. It has not done well with these changes.

Megan Rapinoe chastised Victoria’s Secret for being “patriarchal” and “sexist”. She said marketing was done “through a male lens and through what men desired.” Well, duh.

Gillette also was a victim of it’s wokeness. Sales tanked after a Super Bowl ad entitled “The best men can be.” The goal was to draw attention to issues revolving around toxic masculinity. It did so by criticizing it’s target audience, Men. Gillette suffered an $8 billion cash loss.

I’m sure you remember what happened to Bud Light. After partnering with transgender Tik Tok influencer Dylan Mulvaney, the company lost mega bucks. The backlash was tremendous. Anheuser Busch, the parent company for Bud Light saw a loss of 23% in sales and the downgrading of its stock. According to Newsweek, Anheuser Busch stock dropped by $4 billion.

Bud Light got the message and immediately tried to turn the tide. They brought out the Clydesdales to do pro America commercials and are now partnering with the UFC, Ultimate Fighting Championship. Talk about toxic masculinity.

Coca Cola became a victim of backlash when they blasted Georgia’s new Voter laws. Common sense voter requirements, supported by most people, did not play well for Coke. The stock for the company fell while the S&P was soaring otherwise.

When Target embraced Pride Month and set out on a marketing campaign displaying LGBT merchandise for children, it didn’t play well. Target managed to alienate its customers with this over promotion. When it dialed it back shortly after beginning, Target insulted the LGBT community. Target’s market cap fell nearly $13 billion.

Everyone is likely to remember the backlash that Disney suffered after jumping into the culture war. Disney introduced gay, lesbian, transgender, non-binary, and other minority characters into its animated films. Disney made many other changes including changing Minnie’s red and white polka dot dress to a pantsuit.

According to the New York Post, Disney lost nearly $1 billion at the box office on eight films and lost 4 million Disney subscribers.

Ben and Jerrys Ice Cream also got caught in the culture war. On July 4th, they tweeted out, “The United States was Founded on Stolen, Indigenous Land. This Fourth of July, Let’s Commit to Return it.” American consumers resented such messaging on our Independence Day and the company paid the price.

Ben and Jerry’s has always been a far left company supporting leftist causes. However, they got caught using child labor in its supply chain. Hypocrites.

Pandering to leftist ideology is never going to gain favor overall. Often the company ends up alienating everyone on both sides of the controversy.

Leftists are never happy. No matter how much one panders, it will never be enough. Alienating your customer base in the hope of gaining favor with the left is futile.

Remember that liberals don’t like capitalism no matter what. They believe capitalism is the root of most of the world’s problems. They believe one can’t cover up sins of carbon emissions, slave labor, etc. by promoting a “woke” agenda occasionally.