The Hard-Earned Lesson of the Summer: Go Woke, Go Broke

It’s always been true—pride comes before the fall. This summer, companies proved it like never before. The people spoke, voted with their dollars, and chose family values over corporate America’s virtue signaling. We witnessed companies that went “woke”—from Target to Anheuser-Busch—instantly regretting the backlash they caused and taking backward steps. People are tired of the nonsense, especially when marketing departments promote things like gender ideology that actively targets our children. Let’s review the corporate wokeness we’ve seen in recent months, and what happened next. 

Let’s start local: Minnesota’s own Target Corp. You’ll recall that controversy erupted when Target stores set up LGBTQ displays in late May to prepare for the celebration of “pride” in June. They featured a variety of pride merchandise, such as a kid’s swimsuit labeled as “thoughtfully fit on multiple body types and gender expressions,” “tuck-friendly” swimsuits for men identifying as women, and children’s books titled “The Pronouns Book” and “Bye Bye Binary” among others lining shelves. Last but not least, Target partnered with a “queer” satanic clothing designer, Abprallen, who previously sold “Satan respects pronouns” t-shirts and “Trans Witches For Abortion” badges. The pride merchandise sparked a large flurry of anger from concerned parents and shoppers, leading to mass boycotts across the nation. 

The pressure from its once-regular customers led Target to have an emergency meeting, and some locations removed certain pride products and moved displays to the back of the store. This was just the beginning as Target failed to hit its revenue goal in the second quarter, which ended July 29, for the first time in six years. Compared to the same quarter last year, sales sank 5.4%. As a result, Target lowered its sales and profit forecast for the rest of the year. In addition, online sales had decreased 10.5%, and the average number of dollars spent per transaction fell. Total revenue decreased by 4.9% compared to last year, falling to $24.8 billion. 

On August 16th during an earnings call, Target admitted its mistake. Target’s CFO, Michael Fiddelke, credited backlash to the pride collection as a significant contribution to Target’s negative “traffic and top line trends.” CEO Brian Cornell concurred, acknowledging that the pride campaign led to a “negative guest reaction.” He also mentioned other factors that may have contributed to Target’s unsatisfactory financial performance, including inflation and theft. Walmart on the other hand, saw sales increase 6.4% and beat expectations substantially in their second quarter, leading them to increase their anticipated profit forecast for the year. 

As of this writing, the price of Target’s stock has fallen 20% since the start of the controversy, resulting in almost a $15 billion dollar decline in market value for the Minneapolis-based company, and has shown little signs of recovery. This led JP Morgan to downgrade Target for its stock’s “longest losing streak” in 23 years. The devastating loss also led American First Legal to sue Target on behalf of investor Brain Craig earlier in August, who holds 200 shares, arguing that Target misled shareholders and did not fulfill its obligations to them, instead occupying itself with advancing leftist agendas. Last week, Target’s chief growth officer, Christina Hennington indicated that Target may have learned its lesson in all of this, stating, “The reaction is a signal for us to pause, adapt and learn,” and Target plans to change things for next June. 

Target, however, was not alone in its pride “festivities” as Kohl’s put out pride displays in their locations as well, receiving similar backlash from customers. They too featured LGBTQ onesies among other pride-themed merchandise. One user even tweeted, “Another Company needing Bud-lighting.” This brings us to the most famous brand that went “broke” by going “woke” over the summer—Bud Light—and the numbers show it all. 

It all started when Anheuser-Busch, makers of America’s formerly most popular beer, Bud Light, thought it was a good idea to market its brand by partnering with Dylan Mulvaney—a man identifying as a woman—to celebrate his “365 days of girlhood.” Mulvaney posted a video April 1st of him promoting Bud Light while holding a special beer can sent to him by the company with his face printed on it. This was not intended as an April Fool’s joke. This caused Bud Light customers to question why the company would insert sexuality into its products, leading many to boycott the brand. 

Like Target, Anheuser-Busch saw its stock plummet immediately following the negative response to the Mulvaney partnership. Within six weeks of Mulvaney’s viral post, the stock price fell nearly 25% compared to the same time in 2022, and by mid-June, Anheuser-Busch’s market value remained at that level, a $35 billion decrease from $134.5 billion to $99 billion. Over the same time frame, Bud Light’s competitors saw a boost. Miller Lite sales increased by 21.4%, and Coors Light saw a 25.8% increase. Bud Light was also booted from the pedestal as America’s No. 1 selling beer, with Modelo Especial taking the cake as the most-sold beer by early June. 

After the Fourth of July, Bud Light’s popularity continued to drop, achieving the dismal title of 14th most popular beer. Bud Light practically paid customers over the July 4th weekend to drink their brand, offering $15 dollar rebates to customers who bought a 15-pack of Bud Light or Budweiser. Some 15-packs of Bud Light were being sold for less than $15, so the company basically gave out free beer, presumably to lessen the blow of its declining sales. 

At the beginning of August, we saw the damage that promoting the LGBTQ agenda did to Anheuser-Busch’s earnings in its second-quarter report. In the months of April through June, its U.S. sales dropped by nearly 11% with total profit falling by nearly 30%, and the brand experienced a 34% decline in drink orders. On the flip side, sales for Molson Coors (the parent company of Miller Lite and Coors Lite) were 50% greater than Bud Light’s during the same quarter. Gavin Hattersley, CEO of Molson Coors, stated, “Coors Light and Miller Lite are now 50% bigger than Bud Light by total industry dollars… Last year, Bud Light was bigger than both. Retailers are making space for our brands as demand increases.” Worst of all, the boycotts of the once-iconic brand resulted in the company laying off hundreds of workers. 

Now, according to a new survey from Deutsche Bank comparing results from August and July, “The proportion of former Bud Light drinkers who say they are very unlikely to buy the brand in 3-6 months time has reduced from 18% to just 3%.” However, they also found that 19% of beer drinkers, down from 21% in July, still said they would still not buy Bud Light. Evidence of Anheuser-Busch’s continuous unpopularity was discovered at the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally earlier this month, where the Budweiser booth was seen completely deserted. Although the demands for boycotts appear to be cooling off this August, and some die-hard customers may be returning to the beer, the brand’s negativity has likely left a permanent stain on the minds of consumers, which may take years to recover from. 

And then we come to Disney. It’s no secret that Disney has been actively promoting progressive cultural values over the last decade and alienating Christians and conservatives from its fanbase. On Disney+ for instance, back in February of this year, The Proud Family cartoon featured an episode of kids demanding reparations for slavery through a musical number, and in 2022, an obtained video recording of the show’s executive producer, Latoya Raveneau, exposed her explicitly stating she’s pushing a “not-at-all-secret gay agenda” with the show, saying she sprinkles in “queerness” wherever she can. 

This summer, Disney bore the fruit of pushing away customers. Disney’s Pixar released Elemental, an animated kid’s movie that includes a non-binary character, which flopped at its opening, raking in only $29.5 million. To put that in perspective, this was the second-worst opening in Pixar history. Other movies fumbled, including the remake of The Little Mermaid, Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny, and the remake of The Haunted Mansion. 

Then Disney’s third-quarter report came out. According to Forbes, “Disney+ subscriptions fell from 157.8 million worldwide to 146.1 million, a loss of 11.7 million — more than doubling last quarter’s record decline, and it included a decrease of 300,000 in the U.S. and Canada where subscribers fell to 46 million. It’s just the second time Disney+ has taken a hit in North America; last quarter was the first.” Most of the decline in subscribers came from Disney+ Hotstar in India, where it lost 24% of subscribers largely due to Disney losing rights to a popular cricket league. However, India is still very much a traditional country, and it’s hard to believe Disney’s woke trend hasn’t gone unnoticed internationally, so it’s plausible some in India are also becoming weary of Disney’s progressive direction. 

As of late, some are predicting a “Bud Light” scenario for Disney’s Snow White remake. The actress for Snow White, Rachel Zegler, made headlines over her recent comments about the original film, calling it “weird” and the film’s prince a “stalker.” There are concerns her negativity towards the classic film will tank the remake’s success at the box office, not to mention the fact that she revealed massive changes to the plot, most prominently that Snow White is “not going to be saved by the prince and she’s not going to be dreaming about true love.” Some are predicting that this situation, along with Disney’s new partnership to promote girls’ clothing with a gender-fluid influencer, may continue to hurt the company’s bottom line. 

But it’s not just Target, Bud Light, and Disney. Countless other companies this summer have proven “wokeness” is not good for business, contrary to Mark Cuban’s take. Thousands of people protested outside Dodger’s stadium for hosting the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence, a drag queen group that mocks the Catholic faith. Skittles sparked online backlash over its “Black trans lives matter” packaging along with more boycott calls. And there are many, many more examples. 

We often don’t realize what we have until it’s taken away. Concerned parents, Christians, and Americans are waking up to the fact that once-beloved brands have become hostile to their values. But it doesn’t matter how big a corporation is. Ordinary God-fearing and family-loving people are choosing to stand for their values in large, unprecedented ways and measurably impacting corporations’ bottom lines. That’s what this summer has shown us.  

I appreciate the words of Matt Fradd, who summed up what I believe many consumers were thinking as they engaged in boycotts this summer: “Our primary purpose in doing this is not to make [companies] hurt financially, but to not participate in evil.” It’s not about deepening the division in America or seeking revenge, as some may see it. It’s about concerned consumers uniting around Christian and family values that corporations have deemed “unprofitable” or “unimportant”—and actively doing something about their convictions by aligning their wallets with their hearts to choose alternatives. 

The lesson companies should learn from the summer of 2023 is greater than “go woke, go broke.” The lesson is this: the myth that traditional values no longer play a large role in American life is busted. Moreover, shoppers, parents, Christians, conservatives, and everyday Americans are not simply standing against something, but they’re now striving toward something: a brighter future for our families established on the bedrock of the truths and values emanating ultimately from the gospel, which brings blessings to everyone. Anyone who tells you otherwise has been drinking too much Bud Light. 

What is a Family?

You’ve likely heard about or watched Matt Walsh’s film What is a Woman? In light of the dramatic shift in the cultural wind on sexuality, gender norms, and men breaking records in women’s sports, it is an important question to ask. Yet there’s another question that has come about amidst our cultural chaos that is less talked about: What is a family? This question was the topic of interest in a recent conversation I had with a friend from church—who also happens to be a state representative—Rep. Walter Hudson (R-Albertville).

From our conversation, it is clear that nothing is more important in Rep. Hudson’s life than faith and family. He recently celebrated his 18th wedding anniversary, which he highlighted on Facebook: “My wife Carrie and I have had a rocky journey. But we've kept it together, and the reward for such endurance is an irreplaceable legacy of living memory and solidarity. Nothing can replace that. Nothing.”

Given his passion for family and unique position, I thought it would be valuable to sit down with him and get his perspective on the impact our progressive state and culture are having on our families.

The overarching theme of our conversation was his diagnosis that progressives are seeking to redefine what family means. Just like with gender and other formerly well-understood words in the English vocabulary, there is an ongoing effort to change how you view and think about family and the implications associated with it by removing its divine origins—that God established it as the original institution of humanity. In Rep. Hudson’s words, the term “family,” meaning a married father and mother engaged in rearing children, has now been appropriated to “describe the community of Sodom.”

It's a bold statement, but I encourage you to think about it. What have we witnessed over the last few years? He pointed out that often LGBTQ events will be labeled as “family-friendly”—from drag shows to pride parades to transgender meet and greets—but they are anything but. This past June, a pride event featuring a “pornographic drag performer” in Hopkins, Minnesota, was advertised as “family-friendly,” and later in July, a Chaska children’s boutique hosted a drag queen story hour marketed for young children. Similar events have happened throughout the last half decade in Minnesota and the nation, and the frequency of these events is only increasing.

In fact, the whole progressive agenda in Minnesota has been labeled a “family” movement by Governor Tim Walz. In January, Walz outlined his One Minnesota Budget as a way to make Minnesota “the best state for kids” and tweeted messages along the same vein in May and June. Most recently in July, his wording shifted to include “family” in a tweet where he said, “We’re working to make Minnesota the best state to raise a family—no matter where you live. This is what good government can and should do.” This appears to be a worthy goal, but progressives’ redefinition of family and accompanying values—which includes any combination of parents, full affirmation of a child’s false identity, and childhood exposure to sexualized content—is completely different from Rep. Hudson’s, yours, and mine.

Yet this rebranding of the family is not entirely new. “We first saw it in the debate over gay marriage,” according to John Helmberger, Minnesota Family Council’s CEO: “LGBTQ activists countered our argument that kids need a mom and a dad with the lie that any combination of loving ‘parents’ is equally good. But they certainly are taking the redefinition to new heights now.”

The God-given roles of men and women and divinely established family unit were good (Genesis 1), but our secular culture believed they needed to be reinvented. Why? Mr. Helmberger put it this way:

When people exchange the truth of God for a lie, they are compelled to redefine institutions that God created, but without God, because they need what the institution was created to provide. Though they reject the truth, that’s still how God created them. So they create counterfeits that can never meet the need for which God created the institution they reject.

This trend in modern America has resulted in a divided culture that has progressives—those wanting to leave the truths of Scripture behind—attempting to upend our societal bedrock on one hand; on the other, those who had no intent of joining this revolution (and didn’t ask for it) are wondering how we got here. This confusion culminates in the need to ask basic questions our society has never had to ask before, like “What is a woman?” or “What is a family?” When you attempt to remove dross from pure gold— remake something that doesn’t need to be remade—the only thing you can ever end up removing is gold, and that is exactly what’s being done. When our culture rejects God, instead of pursuing the ideal of raising a family and upholding traditional family values, there is no alternative but to tear the whole thing down and establish a human-instituted community unit.

We’ve often heard about the “march through the institutions” and tend to think it’s far from over. But the family is the final institution—there are no more to take over. Once the norm of the traditional family has fallen, Minnesota and the rest of America will have lost the fundamental building block of human society. Nothing else will be able to stand.

Well, there is one final institution that the Left can never conquer. That is Christ’s bride, the Church. The Church is a family, ruled by a divine Father. We have all been brought into that family through repentance, faith, and Baptism. Certainly, some churches have been conquered and colonized by the doctrines of men. But the invisible Church instituted by Christ can never bow the knee to worldly powers.

The left has already made huge leaps towards conquering the family, including the collapse of responsible and virtuous parenting. We often complain about drag queens at grotesque events, but what about the parents? How can they possibly think bringing children to sexualized events is appropriate? As Bill Walsh states in his recent article,

… in [parents’] quest for tolerance, they’ve lost track of something equally important to teach young people: the truth.”

The fact this is happening shows how far the family unit has eroded and how many people have exchanged the truth about gender, marriage, and family for lies. And, because we have become so desensitized to the rainbow tsunami washing over America, we haven’t realized how much of a crisis this is. Thankfully, my discussion with Rep. Hudson was not all doom and gloom. We both concluded that there is hope for Minnesota’s families, and Rep. Hudson laid out two different approaches to this. One way, and the most lasting way, would be to see revival of faith in our state. This is the long-term goal and the most effective because it tackles the core issue: the condition of man’s heart. This requires everyone, no matter where God has called us, to continue testifying before our friends, family, and coworkers about the truth of the gospel. And this is ultimately our core earthly purpose as Christians—to spread the Word to the world.

The second path requires a change in strategy. Christian conservatives, myself included, are often great at complaining and highlighting the harm of progressive policiess, but if that’s all we do, we fail to create a movement people want to join, even if we win politically. This is why we need to refocus our efforts on offering a positive alternative for Minnesota. Without getting into the weeds, we need to explain the nuances of the left’s terminology—how it’s deceptive, doesn’t mean what people think it does, and how progressive values eventually lead people down the road of self-destruction—but we cannot stop there. We must show our neighbors that God’s way is better, and how pursuing His values and vision for our lives will allow society to truly thrive. Showing why we value what we do—the truth and emotion behind it—will be far more effective than simply pointing out the vices of leftism.

Like men winning women’s competitions, progressive family “values” are counterfeits—they’re not the real deal, and any hope that they can be will eventually come crashing down. Redefining a wrong will never make it right, and God’s design for family leads to a happier and more fulfilling life because He created the family, and His rules are “house rules.” Family is not just a label that can be applied to a policy or lifestyle to make it more “Minnesota nice” or acceptable. So the true answer to “What is a family?” must begin and end with God’s Word – which speaks clearly and offers hope to everyone it touches.

Editor’s note: this article was written by Minnesota Family Council’s 40th Anniversary intern.

The Rampant Pace of Legislative Change is Not Inevitable

Former President Barack Obama recently highlighted the rampant pace of legislative change in Minnesota so far this year to point out that elections have consequences. This is absolutely right – the narrow wins for progressives in the 2022 elections did have consequences. And those consequences are having reverberations for our entire state. This year, we saw a party with a one-seat majority disregard Minnesotans’ values to advance a radical agenda. Unsurprisingly, at the end of the legislative session, the majority of Minnesotans said they believe the state is on the wrong track.

• The first bill passed and signed into law this year was the “Protect Reproductive Options” or “PRO” Act, establishing a “right” to abortion through all nine months of pregnancy, as well as a “right” to sterilization. Senate Democrats rejected over 30 amendments to the PRO Act, including amendments that would have banned late-term abortions, partial-birth abortions, and abortion on the basis of sex, race, or disability; protected children from sterilization; and required abortion facilities to comply with basic health and safety measures.

• The legislature also passed a law that allows the state to take custody of children with gender dysphoria whose parents refuse to subject them to puberty blockers and cross-sex hormones—treating concerned, loving parents as if they are abusers, simply for refusing to subject their children to risky treatments that are not evidence-based. 67% of Minnesotans oppose sex-change surgeries for minors.

• Minnesota’s so-called “conversion therapy” ban intrudes on the counselor-client relationship, restricting the First Amendment rights of licensed counselors and therapists and preventing young people and vulnerable adults who are struggling with unwanted same-sex attraction and gender dysphoria from receiving wanted counsel and therapy.

• In addition to these individual bills, the omnibus Health and Human Services bill repealed Positive Alternative Grant program, which funded life-affirming alternatives to abortion, gutted the Born Alive Infant Protection Act, and repealed significant portions of Minnesota’s abortion reporting requirements.

• The omnibus education bill included language excluding colleges and universities that hold to a statement of faith from participating in the PSEO program. Families affected by this new law are already challenging it in court.

Progressives also passed laws protecting abortion providers facing criminal charges in other states, legalizing recreational marijuana, and removing language from Minnesota law stating that pedophilia is not a sexual orientation.

As we look at the results of this legislative session, it’s important to keep in mind that the majority held the Senate by only one seat—a seat which was won by a mere 321 votes. This means that things do not have to stay this way in Minnesota. After all, elections have consequences and it is the role of voters to keep our elected officials accountable when they act against the best interests of our state. It’s time to start thinking—and praying—about 2024.

Minnesota Legislature Considering Extreme Abortion and Infanticide Bill

Last week the Minnesota House voted in favor of the “PRO” Act, a bill that creates a “right” to abortion up until birth in Minnesota. With the Senate debating this bill on the floor today, another lethal abortion bill is quickly making its way through the Minnesota legislature. HF 91 and its companion bill, SF 70, acts as a “how to” for the PRO Act, moving from the broad “rights” language of HF 1 to specific abortion expansions. HF 91 would make Minnesota one of the most extreme abortion states in the nation, depriving unborn babies of any and all protections under law and even allowing infanticide.

In committee, the author of this extreme bill was asked “When is a baby a human?” Representative Liebling dismissed this question as “inflammatory rhetoric” and “completely irrelevant.” How can such a question be irrelevant to a bill that would deny babies the right to life up until and even after birth? Under Minnesota’s Born Alive Infant’s Protection Act, medical providers are required to give life-saving care to babies who survive abortions. HF 91 and SF 70 repeal that law, allowing medical professionals to leave babies to die of neglect on a metal table after botched abortions. This is nothing less than legalized infanticide.

HF 91 and SF 70 would also remove all restrictions on abortion, as well as repealing reporting requirements, informed consent laws, and health and safety requirements. Currently, Minnesota releases an annual abortion report providing information on how many abortions were performed throughout the state, the age of the babies who were aborted, reasons for abortion, and how many babies survived abortions each year. These reports are the reason we know that Minnesota commits roughly 10,000 abortions and that five Minnesota babies survived abortion and were denied medical care in 2021, the most recent year we have data on.

As Renee Carlson, General Counsel of True North Legal boldly stated while giving legal testimony on SF 70, “Cattle and reptiles will have more legal protections in Minnesota than Minnesota’s vulnerable preborn children.”

HF 91 and SF 70 even remove reporting requirements when a woman dies because of an abortion. This, combined with the repeal of other safety restrictions, shows an utter disregard for health and safety, and an unwillingness to require any accountability for the abortion industry.

Minnesota is joined by only a small handful of states — New York, Vermont, and California — in embracing this level of abortion extremism. This legislation would make us an outlier on the international stage, as well, joined by China and North Korea in a callous lack of protection for babies and their mothers. Live Action notes that the bill even prevents local jurisdictions from taking any actions to protect unborn babies.

The abortion agenda being advanced by the Minnesota legislature does not reflect the values of the people of our state. On Sunday, pro-life Minnesotans gathered at the state Capitol to march in honor of the unborn children who have been killed by abortion, to celebrate the reversal of Roe v. Wade, and to demonstrate their commitment to continue to stand for life. Together they sent a clear message to lawmakers: we say “no” to abortion radicalism. Marchers included men and women, young and old, people from a diverse range of backgrounds, all united in their stand for the unborn.

In the crowd were men and women who have faithfully marched and prayed every year for 50 years since the Roe v. Wade decision, continuing to work to protect unborn lives even when they wondered if Roe v. Wade would be overturned in their lifetimes. The crowd included pro-life lawmakers, activists and lobbyists, staff and volunteers from pregnancy resource centers who meet the needs of women and families, faithful citizens who have spent decades asking their lawmakers to stand for life and working to elect pro-life officials, women who have courageously spoken out about the reality of abortion regret, and families that have committed to caring for vulnerable children.

It is because God uses faithful people like them, who have committed to the long-term work of protecting life, that Roe is no longer the law of the land on the federal level. And when abortion is no longer the law of the land in Minnesota, it will be through God’s use of faithful people who are committed to honoring him by valuing and protecting the lives of those made in his image.