Tipsheet

Doing Some Last Minute Christmas Shopping? Make Sure to Avoid Woke Companies.

Rebecca Downs
Rebecca Downs  |  December 21, 2024 2:45 PM

With just a few days to go until Christmas, there are plenty of last minute shoppers out there. If you're one of them, or know someone who is, you may want to keep in mind and pass along that it's worthwhile to do your research to avoid woke companies. Coign, a credit card and financial company for conservatives, makes it easier to do so. 

Earlier this month, Coign put out a thread over X for tips on how to find out which companies are worth avoiding. 

For starters, shoppers can look into the political donations that a company makes, by tracking their corporate PACs and their federal election donations. "Look for patterns of contributions to politicians, ballot initiatives, or PACs," Coign recommends. 

One might also want to check for those pesky DEI (Diversity, Equity, Inclusion) initiatives, which many companies will even share on their own website.

In the "Story" section of Lululemon, for instance, they put their own spin on DEI, Inclusion, Diversity, Equity, and Action (IDEA). The company says they want to "Expand being well to encompass a culture of inclusion where diversity is celebrated, equity is the norm, and action is the commitment."

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"We stand for humanity, diversity and empathy—without exception," the site also declares. 

The particularly detailed web page includes a statement from their CEO, Calvin McDonald, as well as a list of five commitments with more buzzwords, One of their commitments is to "Reinforce our bias mitigation structures and targeted programs that help attract and develop talent from diverse backgrounds." They've also touted their progress.

Then there's Patagonia, which sued then President Donald Trump and bragged about it on their website, as well as put anti-Trump tags with expletives in their clothing ahead of the 2020 election. 

Patagonia has entire section on "Activism" and there's a page on "A History of Our Environmental and Social Responsibility." As the Washington Examiner revealed in June, "Patagonia funneled thousands to Palestinian terrorism-linked group, documents show," in reference to sending money to Alliance for Global Justice, linked to the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, a terrorist group. Another report from that same month revealing that "Patagonia backs this dark money hub behind pro-Hamas protests," referencing the Tides Foundation and the Tides Center. 

Similarly, shoppers may want to insist on having ESG (Environmental, Social, Governance) goals. They can check their ESG reports and corporate investor relations page. 

Coign also warns shoppers to be wary of woke certifications, for instance when it comes to such labels as the "Human Rights Campaign (HRC) Corporate Equality Index" and the "B-Corp Certification," which it warns is "heavily ESG-based."

The last tip is as simple as paying attention to how companies choose to market. "If a company floods its marketing with identity-based virtue signaling, they're likely catering to woke ideology," Coign points out. They suggest looking for ads that focus more on politics rather than brands and check if they partner with activist organizations. "If you see more politics than products, it’s a red flag," Coign warns. 

Rob Collins, the founder and CEO of Coign provided Townhall with a statement about the thread of advice and the company. "Patriots have been exposing woke companies, but there is so much work left to do," he said. "Coign created this easy guide so Americans can identify liberal companies and continue to align their values with their commerce. "The great news is when our customers pay with a Coign credit card they can be confident that their purchases support great conservative causes — no matter where they spend."

Companies may have once flaunted how woke they were, especially in 2020 with the Black Lives Matter protests and the presidential election that year that resulted in a win for President Joe Biden. Sure enough, that lululemon page mentions 2020 several times. Plenty has changed in just a few years, though. As Trump, who is about to take office in less than a month, has said, "everything woke turns to s**t." Or, put another way, "go woke, go broke."

Earlier this month, Forbes reported that "LULU Stock Still Down 20% This Year Despite Friday Surge." There's also been plenty of negative headlines about Patagonia's restructuring, and how that's impacting employees. Earlier this month, GCTV put out a headline on how "Patagonia Employees Lose Faith As Sales Keep Freefalling."

Townhall has also been covering how major companies are doing an about-face. Rather than embrace woke policies, they're now running from them. Last month, just in time for Black Friday, Walmart, which is the nation's largest employer, announced a "stunning reversal" on its woke policies.