While corporations and companies are scrambling to distance themselves from woke initiatives and avoid the resulting boycott backlash, one major retailer is doubling down on its unpopular policies. The National Center for Public Policy Research (NCPPR) recently issued a proposal to Costco, urging the organization to evaluate and retire “discriminatory” diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programs, according to The Hill.
“It’s clear that DEI holds litigation, reputational and financial risks to the Company, and therefore financial risks to shareholders,” NCPPR wrote, noting that Costco’s decision to “rebrand” its DEI programs as “People and Communities” may not protect the company from litigation following the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2023 ruling that racially discriminatory programs like affirmative action are unconstitutional. “With 310,000 employees, Costco likely has at least 200,000 employees who are potentially victims of this type of illegal discrimination because they are white, Asian, male or straight,” NCPPR warned.
However, Costco’s board of directors rejected NCPPR’s proposal and instructed shareholders to vote against eliminating DEI programs and initiatives. “We believe that our diversity, equity and inclusion efforts are legally appropriate, and nothing in the proposal demonstrates otherwise,” Costco’s board of directors wrote. They continued, “Combined with our obedience to the law, service to our employees, members and suppliers has rewarded our shareholders. This is our code of ethics. Our focus on diversity, equity and inclusion is not, however, only for the sake of improved financial performance but to enhance our culture and the well-being of people whose lives we influence.” They concluded that NCPPR’s proposal “reflects a policy bias with which we disagree and that further study and reporting would not be an efficient use of Company resources.”
Last year, a number of major corporations and retailers abandoned DEI and LGBT initiatives. Walmart, Lowe’s, Harley Davidson, John Deere, and Tractor Supply Co. all ended their DEI programs, while companies like Target scaled back their LGBT activism. Even Disney, among the most stalwart advocates of the LGBT agenda, decided to slash its LGBT content, facing growing unpopularity and plummeting stock prices. After removing a transgender storyline from its upcoming Pixar series “Win or Lose,” a Disney spokesman explained, “When it comes to animated content for a younger audience, we recognize that many parents would prefer to discuss certain subjects with their children on their own terms and timeline.”
Other companies have suffered boycott backlash for their woke policies. Nike, Frito-Lay, Rip Curl, and other brands faced the ire of consumers after partnering with transgender-identifying spokespeople, echoing Anheuser-Busch’s catastrophic run with transgender-identifying social media personality Dylan Mulvaney as the face of Bud Light, which cost the company an estimated $1.4 billion. When Nike paired up with Mulvaney, the sports clothing brand lost an estimated $13 billion in market value. Gym chain Planet Fitness lost over $400 million in less than a week after allowing a biological male who identified as transgender to share a locker room with women — and even revoking a woman’s membership for complaining.
But some companies, like Costco, have simply not learned the lesson. Nationwide has also maintained its divisive DEI policies, even after the Center for Christian Virtue launched a campaign exposing the insurance giant’s woke initiatives. Apple has stringent DEI policies guiding its hiring process, even barring white men from applying for certain jobs. Even Nasdaq attempted to mandate DEI policies and goals for the boards of listed companies, but a federal court struck down the initiative.
S.A. McCarthy serves as a news writer at The Washington Stand.