While we were travelling in America, one business story seemed to pop up again and again: American beer companies going ‘woke’.
This seems to be another example (in a far too long list) of everything in America being dragged into its all-consuming partisan political contest. From climate change to marriage equality to policing reform, every company is expected to take a position. And every action is then seen through a political lens of woke v non-woke, Democrat v Republican.
As this article from Vox reminds us, “Corporations are not your friends, let alone your political allies.”
This story seems to sum up a lot of where American politics is at the moment. A relatively innocuous act (in this case Bud Light sending free beer to a transgender influencer) is viewed as a political statement. Partisan media (in this case Fox News) then stoke it into a controversy, that controversy turns to outrage as it is amplified through social media, and opportunistic politicians and influencers then capitalise on the story for their two minutes of fame (in this case, Kid Rock filmed a video shooting Bud Light cans and Senator Ted Cruz opening an investigation into Bud Light). All of a sudden, the biggest business news story of the day is about a beer company sending someone free beer.
It is easy for us in Australia to smile wryly, shake our heads and think that’s just America. But we are not immune from this reactionary media. All you need to do is Google “Sky News woke companies” to see that similar headlines exist in Australia. They just don’t quite get the same clicks, shares and reactions here.
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