Target, Bud Light controversies give rise to new anti-woke platform

If you ask conservatives, there has been a liberal bias in the media for decades, and there are certainly studies that back up this claim. 

In order to combat this bias, Fox News and it's decidedly conservative slant, was born and has (mostly) thrived as a conservative alternative to that perceived bias. 

Related: Bud Light 'Woke' War Isn't Just About Kid Rock, Garth Brooks

But in recent years, politics has also seeped into the business world, leading businesses that in that past "existed to make a profit and a return to shareholders and managers" to now see themselves more as agents for change. But that political activism comes at a cost. 

"Businesses are very concerned about their reputations: reputational damage can affect their viability. This is particularly the case with consumer-facing brand," a recent study titled "Business and Politics: A Relationship Under Challenge," stated. 

But the risks have seemed to have little affect on many of the big businesses with left leaning politics. 

“There is a reason almost all the top ten market cap companies in the U.S. can be considered ‘woke.’ It’s good business,” Mark Cuban recently told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette in an interview. 

But that calculus has changed a bit in 2023. 

More Companies in Trouble:

• Bud Light is set to lose a big chunk of its business permanently
• Battle for Pride: What to know about the Target backlash
• While the right celebrates over Bud Light, Target, they’re cheering the wrong victory

Bud Light and its parent company Anheuser-Busch InBev  (BUD) - Get Free Report became the poster child for "anti-woke" political fallout earlier this year after its promotional campaign with transgender social media influencer Dylan Mulvaney became a PR disaster for the company, resulting in a massive drop in sales. 

Target  (TGT) - Get Free Report also suffered a reputational hit over the summer, though not as dramatic as Bud Light's regression, over its support of the LGBTQ community. 

And now those on the political right are fighting back with what is being describing as 'woke free' businesses.

Enter PublicSq, an online marketplace aimed at promoting companies that espouse conservative political viewpoints. 

The platform's popularity has seen a spike since the Bud Light and Target controversies over the summer, and now boasts 65,000 small businesses on its platform, according to the New York Times. 

Most businesses on the platform do not explicitly state their views, PublicSq. CEO Michael Seifert told the Times, but all are required to check a box and sign a commitment to the company's core principals, which include: a belief in "the greatness of this nation"; a vow to protect "the family unit; the interpretation that "our constitution is non-negotiable"; and a "commitment to freedom and truth" which, after all is, "what makes us Americans."

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