I always used to purchase Gillette shaving products. Gillette made products that appealed to me. When I was a boy, Gillette advertised the Friday night boxing matches. That was enough inducement for me. Perhaps Gillette also advertised the Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show, too, and shows about outdoor life, such as hunting and fishing. Yet, I quit them several years ago when I made an astonishing discovery.
Gillette had been subverted by what is now called the "woke" movement. In its advertisements, Gillette was accusing me and other red-blooded American males of favoring the bullying of young people, both males, and females. Maybe they were accusing us of bullying household pets, too. Whatever the case, I immediately slapped a boycott on Gillette. There are other shaving products I can buy. There are the old standby, Schick, and newer product lines such as "Harry's razors for men"(did you get that -- "for men"!). Of course, I can always grow a beard or go out in public perfectly bald. I do not need Gillette.
Since I slapped my boycott on Gillette, I have lost sight of the company. Though the Woke Camorra endures, and I am told it has even gained more corporate adherents. Recently, Bud Light was suborned by the Woke Folk. (Light, what would you expect?) And then there was an entity going by the curious name of Target. It also tried to appeal to the Woke Folk. Bud Light took an especially fierce drubbing in public forums, where Wokedom is very controversial. As for Target, all I know is that I have yet to ascertain its position in the National Rifle Association. Thus, I shall hold my fire, though I must compliment Target's board of directors on choosing a nice name.
So how is the woke thing going? Are the Woke Folk multiplying? Have any been arrested? I cannot believe a movement as controversial as wokeness could interest a giant corporation seeking to sell its product to the good-natured American public. Well, apparently, I have been right. Whether it be the result of my boycott or a more significant movement -- something cosmic -- I do not know. But now there is evidence pouring in that Wokedom is being rejected in the boardrooms of giant corporations. Even the smaller corporations are taking a stand.
Recently, The Wall Street Journal, on its front page, brought an enormous amount of evidence from all four corners of America that Wokedom is being rejected. The excellent sense of Americans is winning out. The free market has supplied proof against the ideological incense-burners of socialism.
The Journal reported that "Finance chiefs and other executives have significantly quieted down in public settings about their environmental and employee diversity efforts as the opposition has mounted from a confluence of interests: investors who want companies to focus on their operations, not the social good, and conservative groups and political leaders who have seized on corporate support of such causes to rally 'anti-woke' constituents -- for example, calling for boycotts of brands that advertise their support of the LGBT community in the wake of recent disputes with Target and Bud Light." Yes, Target and Bud Light have come under fire for their woke nonsense.
The Journal goes further: "Companies' mentions of green and social initiatives during earnings calls have fallen off sharply in recent quarters, reversing a more boastful approach taken over the past few years amid intensifying pressure from some investors and conservative activists." Still, more evidence is that in America, the free market preempts the do-gooders.
Or are the Woke Folk even do-gooders? They take great pride in calling themselves "virtue signalers," yet a few days after The Wall Street Journal's initial assault on the Woke Camorra, a gentleman by the name of Andy Puzder wrote a very authoritative op-ed piece in the Journal demonstrating that Wokedom is on the retreat in practically all the red states and even a goodly number of blue states. My guess is that the average American does not like people who prattle on about how virtuous they are. Rather than being virtue signalers, these popinjays come across as "virtue flaunters." I bet virtue flaunting is not even popular at Gillette headquarters, wherever they may be.
Glory to Ukraine!
R. Emmett Tyrrell Jr. is founder and editor in chief of The American Spectator. He is a Senior Fellow at the London Center for Policy Research and the author most recently of "The Death of Liberalism," published by Thomas Nelson, Inc.
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