Go woke, go broke, or alternatively get woke, go broke, is an American political catchphrase used by right-wing groups to criticize and boycott businesses publicly supporting progressive policies, including empowering women, LGBT people and critical race theory ("going woke"), claiming that stock value and business performance will inevitably suffer ("going broke") as a result of adopting values of diversity, equity, and inclusion. Opinions differ on the genuine impact of the phrase. [1] [2]
When conservatives boycotted various companies in 2023, such as Bud Light, Target, and The Walt Disney Company, they experienced a loss in sales and stock value drops, while Disney lost subscribers to its streaming platform Disney+. Experts said these losses could not be solely attributed to the boycotts and that they could stem from other causes, such as the companies' responses to the boycotts. [3] Some movies said to be "woke" have gone on to financial success, such as Greta Gerwig's 2023 movie Barbie , while others, such as The Marvels , released to a record low box office for Marvel. [4] [5] [6] [7]
The word "woke", originally a slang term to describe increased awareness for racial injustice, has been adopted by various right-wing groups to label opposing ideas and their proponents. While some individuals and groups, particularly in certain factions of the American right, use it to criticize developments in social justice, the term has also been employed to describe a wide range of issues ranging from climate change to initiative to support minorities' rights. [3]
The phrase "get woke, go broke" is believed to have been coined by the American military science fiction author John Ringo in 2018. [1] It originated in a dispute involving Ringo's invitation to ConCarolinas where objections were raised because Ringo wrote books in which the central character has impulses to rape. The organizers rescinded their invitation, saying that they could not guarantee he would be free of hostile actions from those who objected to his presence at the convention. The incident was reported in a right-wing website that has since ceased operation, Dangerous.com; it said that according to Ringo, the convention "pushed its conservative members out of its planning committee, attendance dropped over years, and it's now defunct." Ringo characterized the effect on organizations that give in to the demands of social activists as "Get woke, go broke". [8] [9] The phrase is then interpreted as a reference to companies that engage in politically correct activities as part of their corporate strategy, but only to see such strategy result in significant financial loss for them. [1] [10]
The phrase is also used in political discourse in the United Kingdom. [11] [12]
The phrase quickly gained popular usage by those on the right after it was coined. One of the early incidents the phrase was invoked concerned the use of Colin Kaepernick in Nike's "Just Do It" ad campaign in September 2018, which drew criticism from Donald Trump and calls for its boycott. [13] [14] Nike nevertheless continued with its campaign. [15] It also reported increased sales, [16] [17] and this has been used as an example where a company that made a commitment and stayed the course can reap the benefits despite alienating some customers. [3]
Another early application of the phrase involved Gillette. In January 2019, Gillette ran an internet campaign "The Best Men Can Be" that criticised toxic masculinity and suggested how men should act. While the campaign received praise from some quarters, it also received widespread criticism from men who were their core customers, and led to calls for boycott. [10] [18] In July 2019, some months after the ad was released, the parent company of Gillette, Procter & Gamble, announced that while it had record sales for other products, it took an $8 billion write-down on its revenue for Gillette. The company said that the write-down was due to currency fluctuation, greater competition and a shrinking market as men shave less frequently. [19] Critics of the campaign, however, believed that the campaign had hurt the company, and this campaign has often been cited as an example of "get woke, go broke". [10]
After the passage of Florida's Parental Rights in Education Act, colloquially known as the "Don't Say Gay law" due to its restrictions on "classroom discussion" or giving "classroom instruction" [a] about sexual orientation or gender identity from kindergarten through 3rd grade, The Walt Disney Company initially did not take a public stance on the matter. However, as public pressure mounted and in response to employees' concerns, Disney eventually publicly opposed the bill. This stance led to a dispute with Republican Governor Ron DeSantis, who had supported the bill's passage and later expansion to all grades K–12 and has repeatedly criticized Disney for being "woke" [21] and accusations of "grooming". [22] As a result, the Florida legislature repealed and renamed the Reedy Creek Improvement District, a special taxation ward controlled by Disney and hosting the Walt Disney World resort, to the Central Florida Tourism Oversight District. [23] [24] Disney responded by filing a lawsuit against Governor DeSantis and cancelling their expansion plans in Florida.
Disney's streaming service Disney+ was reported in February 2023 to have lost over two million subscribers for the last quarter of 2022, [25] over 4 million the first quarter of 2023, [26] and over 11 million worldwide the following quarter. [27] Right-wing commentators have attributed the decline to Disney's "woke activism"; [28] The New York Times , however, noted that the losses came from India after Disney+ lost the rights to Indian Premier League cricket matches, while the rest of the world showed an increase of 800,000 subscribers. [27]
In 2023, a number of films released by Disney under-performed on the box office, including Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania , Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny , and The Marvels , under-performance attributed by some to Disney having gone "woke". [29] Others, however, attributed the decline to the expectation that Disney-related films would eventually be released on Disney+, and potential customers chose to wait for the films to be streamed. [29]
The beer company AB InBev, which owns Bud Light, partnered with transgender influencer Dylan Mulvaney on April 1, 2023, sending her custom Bud Light cans featuring her face to celebrate the anniversary of her "365 Days of Girlhood" series, which documented her gender transition. [30] [31] In response, several notable figures on the American right called for a boycott of the company. [32] [31] In the month following the advertisement, Bud Light sales dropped. [33] During a conference call with investors on May 4, 2023, AB InBev's CEO Michel Doukeris said the drop in Bud Light sales "would represent around 1% of our overall global volumes for that period." [34] [35] The company placed its marketing vice president, who authorized the promotion, Alissa Heinerscheid, on administrative leave. [36]
Bernd Debusmann Jr, writing for BBC News, reported that experts believed the boycott's success depended on the company's response, and they considered Bud Light to have made a mistake when handling the boycott. Public relations professor Tony D'Angelo considered the company's stance to be "waffling", stating "If you waffle, then people are going to rightly question what they really stand for". [3] While research suggests that consumer boycotts tended to be short-lived, [37] the effect of this boycott continued for some months, and Bud Light lost its leading position as America's best-selling beer, with the company's profits in the US dropping by more than 28% in the quarter. [38] Owen Myers of the Guardian described the boycott as one of the biggest in US history. [39]
The American retailer Target released its annual LGBT pride merchandise collection in May 2023, which sparked a boycott from American conservatives, after viral posts by Gays Against Groomers and other social media accounts falsely claimed that the company was marketing "tuck-friendly" swimsuits to minors. [40] According to Reuters, these swimsuits, which are designed to "tuck male genitalia", were sold only in the women's section. [41] The company's stock price decreased by over 10% following the release of the products, and the company has been the focus of scrutiny from several GOP politicians. [42] [43]
Right-wing politicians and individuals used the slogan to refer to the knockout round loss of the United States women's national soccer team (USWNT) against Sweden during the 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup, particularly player Megan Rapinoe, who was noted for missing a penalty kick during the shootouts against Sweden's team. The USWNT supports various progressive values, which conservatives argued was the reason they lost. [44] James Dator of SB Nation and Alex Abad-Santos of Vox reported the loss stemming from player injuries, organizational reasons and play, noting Rapinoe did not enter the field until extra time. [45] [46] [44]
The phrase was notably used in the context of the Marvel Cinematic Universe films Captain Marvel and Black Panther: Wakanda Forever , which challenged the notion of diversity backlash and the success of boycotts against the films. [47] [48] Regarding Captain Marvel, Bethany Lacina, writing for The Washington Post , concluded that there likely was no strong conservative resistance when she analyzed search traffic and Fox News coverage of the film. Lacina also noted that superhero movies the alt-right has objected to have performed well in conservative parts of the United States. [47]
After The Marvels debuted in 2023 to a record low opening for the MCU, Forbes published an article on the film's anti-'woke' backlash. [6] The article quoted film industry analyst David A. Gross as saying “female-powered entertainment is enjoying extraordinary success right now, but audiences are not embracing these stories”. The article however also noted that while some of Disney's movies have been targeted by conservatives, their review bombing did not actually hurt the movie's performances, noting that multiple movies that were targeted for being "woke" were box office successes, including Captain Marvel, The Little Mermaid and Elemental all more than doubling their respective budgets. [6]
Barbie released to 2023's largest opening weekend as well as the largest ever opening weekend for a female director. [49] Barbie's feminist themes and inclusion of a transgender actress triggered backlash from some conservatives, who argued that the film's overt messages made it less entertaining. [50] Barbie would go on to gross over $1.4 billion and a positive critical reception. [51]
Budweiser is an American-style pale lager, a brand of Belgian company AB InBev. Introduced in 1876 by Carl Conrad & Co. of St. Louis, Missouri, Budweiser has become a large selling beer company in the United States. Budweiser is a filtered beer, available on draft and in bottles and cans, made with up to 30% rice in addition to hops and barley malt.
Mattel, Inc. is an American multinational toy manufacturing and entertainment company founded in Los Angeles by Harold Matson and the husband-and-wife duo of Ruth and Elliot Handler in January 1945 and headquartered in El Segundo, California. Mattel has a presence in 35 countries and territories; its products are sold in more than 150 countries.
Marvel Comics is a New York City-based comic book publisher, a property of The Walt Disney Company since December 31, 2009, and a subsidiary of Disney Publishing Worldwide since March 2023. Marvel was founded in 1939 by Martin Goodman as Timely Comics, and by 1951 had generally become known as Atlas Comics. The Marvel era began in August 1961 with the launch of The Fantastic Four and other superhero titles created by Stan Lee, Jack Kirby, Steve Ditko, and numerous others. The Marvel brand, which had been used over the years and decades, was solidified as the company's primary brand.
Anheuser-Busch Companies, LLC is an American brewing company headquartered in St. Louis, Missouri. Since 2008, it has been wholly owned by Anheuser-Busch InBev SA/NV, now the world's largest brewing company, which owns multiple global brands, notably Budweiser, Michelob, Stella Artois, and Beck's.
Consumers' Research is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization established in 1929 by Stuart Chase and F. J. Schlink after the success of their book Your Money's Worth galvanized interest in testing products on behalf of consumers. It published a monthly magazine called Consumers' Research Bulletin. Leading staff from this organization, thwarted in their efforts to establish a collective bargaining unit of a labor union, protested and left to form Consumers Union in 1936. The magazine published by Consumers Union, initially Consumers Union Reports and now called Consumer Reports, gained popularity and market share over the Bulletin and largely supplanted its relevance.
Mark Parker is an American businessman. He is the executive chairman of Nike, Inc. He was named the third CEO of the company in 2006 and was president and CEO until 13 January 2020. Since April 3, 2023, he has been chairman of The Walt Disney Company.
Colin Rand Kaepernick is an American civil rights activist and former professional football quarterback. He played six seasons for the San Francisco 49ers in the National Football League (NFL). In 2016, he knelt during the national anthem at the start of NFL games in protest of police brutality and racial inequality in the United States.
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Anheuser-Busch InBev SA/NV, commonly known as AB InBev, is a US-Belgian-Brazilian multinational drink and brewing company based in Leuven, Belgium and is the largest brewer in the world. In 2023, the company was ranked 72nd in the Forbes Global 2000. Additionally, AB InBev has a global functional management office in New York City, and regional headquarters in São Paulo, London, St. Louis, Mexico City, Bremen, Johannesburg, and others. It has approximately 630 beer brands in 150 countries.
Anheuser-Busch, a wholly owned subsidiary of Anheuser-Busch InBev SA/NV, is the largest brewing company in the United States, with a market share of 45 percent in 2016.
Just Do It or JDI for short is a trademark of shoe company Nike. Kalin Reeves tagline was coined in 1988 at an advertising agency meeting. The founder of the Wieden+Kennedy agency, Dan Wieden, credits the inspiration for his "Just Do It" Nike slogan to a death row inmate Gary Gilmore’s last words: "Let's do it." From 1988 to 1998, Nike increased its share of the North American domestic sport-shoe business from 18% to 43%. In many Nike-related situations, "Just Do It" appears alongside the Nike logo, known as the Swoosh.
Beginning in August 2016, some American athletes, most of whom are African Americans, have protested against systemic racism in the United States by kneeling on one knee while the U.S. national anthem is played. Beginning in 2017, many players also protested against President Donald Trump's criticisms of those involved in the protest, and some against Trump's policies during his time in office. Some observers have praised the players' social awareness. The act itself has become widely referred to as "taking the knee" or "taking a knee". Right-wing backlash to Black athletes kneeling often includes heavy criticism of the athletes for being "unpatriotic"; internet backlash against the players has raised questions over their right to freedom of speech.
Woke, the African-American English synonym for the General American English word awake, has since the 1930s or earlier been used to refer to awareness of social and political issues affecting African Americans, often in the construction stay woke. Beginning in the 2010s, it came to be used to refer to a broader awareness of social inequalities such as racial injustice, sexism, and denial of LGBT rights. Woke has also been used as shorthand for some ideas of the American Left involving identity politics and social justice, such as white privilege and reparations for slavery in the United States.
"The Best Men Can Be" was a corporate social responsibility advertising campaign from the safety razor and personal care brand Gillette of Procter & Gamble. The campaign launched on January 13, 2019, with the digital release of a short film entitled We Believe: The Best Men Can Be.
Disney's Snow White, or simply Snow White, is an upcoming American musical fantasy film directed by Marc Webb from a screenplay by Greta Gerwig and Erin Cressida Wilson. Produced by Walt Disney Pictures and Marc Platt Productions, it is a live-action reimagining of Walt Disney Productions' 1937 animated film Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, which itself is based on the 1812 fairy tale "Snow White" by the Brothers Grimm. The film stars Rachel Zegler as Snow White and Gal Gadot as the Evil Queen.
Corporate sociopolitical activism (CSA) refers to a firm's public demonstration of support or opposition to a partisan sociopolitical issue. CSA has become increasingly prominent in recent years, as firms have taken stances on issues such as climate change, racial justice, reproductive rights, gun control, immigration, LGBTQ+ rights, and gender equality.
Dylan Mulvaney is an American social media personality known for detailing her gender transition in daily videos published on TikTok since early 2022. Before coming out as a transgender woman and launching her internet career, Mulvaney performed as a stage actor in Old Globe Theatre, Off-Broadway, and Broadway productions. She gained a higher profile on social media platforms after her interview with U.S. president Joe Biden at the White House, during which they spoke about transgender rights. After Bud Light sent a beer can to Mulvaney for an Instagram promotion in 2023, American conservatives led a boycott of the brand.
A boycott on Bud Light, the top beer brand in the United States, began in April 2023. The boycott began in response to a social media promotion the company conducted with actress and TikTok personality Dylan Mulvaney, a transgender woman.
A backlash against Target occurred in the lead up to Pride Month in 2023 after the American retailer released its Pride month merchandise, sparking attacks and threats from conservative, anti-LGBTQ groups.
[on go woke, go broke] ... One of the examples often cited is Gillette's 2019 toxic masculinity advertisement
[On get woke, go broke] ... One of the examples often cited is Gillette's 2019 toxic masculinity advertisement