OPINION:
I always used to purchase Gillette shaving products. Gillette made products that appealed to me. When I was a boy, Gillette advertised on the Friday night boxing matches. That was enough inducement for me. Perhaps Gillette also advertised the Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show and shows about outdoor life such as hunting and fishing. Yet I quit them several years ago when I made an astonishing discovery.
Gillette had been subverted by what is now called the “woke” movement. In its advertisements, Gillette was accusing me and other red-blooded American males of favoring the bullying of young people, male and female. Maybe the company was accusing us of bullying household pets too.
Whatever the case, I immediately boycotted Gillette. There are other shaving products I can buy. There is the old standby, Schick, and newer product lines such as “Harry’s Razors for Men” — did you get that, “for Men”! Of course, I can always grow a beard or go out in public perfectly bald. I do not need Gillette.
Since I slapped my boycott on Gillette, I have lost sight of the company. Though the “woke” camorra endures, and I am told it has even gained more corporate adherents. Recently Bud Light was suborned by the “woke” folk. (Light, what would you expect?) And then there was a retailer going by the curious name of Target. It also tried to appeal to the “woke” folk.
Bud Light took an especially fierce drubbing in public forums, where “woke” ideology has proved contentious. As for Target, all I know is that I have yet to ascertain its position on the National Rifle Association. Thus, I shall hold my fire, though I must compliment Target’s board of directors on choosing a nice name.
So how is the “woke” thing going? Are the “woke” folk multiplying? Have any been arrested? I cannot believe a movement this controversial could interest a giant corporation seeking to sell its product to the good-natured American public.
Well, apparently I have been right. Whether it be the result of my boycott or a larger movement — something cosmic — I do not know. But evidence is pouring in that “woke” ideology is being rejected in the boardrooms of giant corporations. Even the smaller companies are taking a stand.
Recently The Wall Street Journal, on its front page, brought an enormous amount of evidence from all four corners of America that “wokedom” is being rejected. The good sense of Americans is winning out. The free market has supplied proof against the ideological incense-burners of socialism.
The Journal reported: “Finance chiefs and other executives have significantly quieted down in public settings about their environmental and employee diversity efforts as the opposition has mounted from a confluence of interests: Investors who want companies to focus on their operations, not the social good, and conservative groups and political leaders who have seized on corporate support of such causes to rally ‘anti-woke’ constituents — for example, calling for boycotts of brands that advertise their support of the LGBTQ community in the wake of recent disputes with Target and Bud Light.”
Yes, Target and Bud Light have come under fire for their embracing of “woke” nonsense.
The Journal went further: “Companies’ mentions of green and social initiatives during earnings calls have fallen off sharply in recent quarters, reversing a more boastful approach taken over the past few years amid intensifying pressure from some investors and conservative activities.”
Still more evidence that in America, the free market preempts the do-gooders.
Or are the “woke” folk even do-gooders? They take great pride in calling themselves “virtue signalers,” yet a few days after The Wall Street Journal’s initial assault on the “woke” camorra, a gentleman by the name of Andy Puzder wrote an authoritative op-ed piece in the Journal demonstrating that “wokedom” is on the retreat in practically all the red states and even a goodly number of blue states.
My guess is that average Americans do not like people who prattle on about how virtuous they are. Rather than being virtue signalers, these popinjays come across as “virtue flaunters.” I bet virtue flaunting is not even popular at Gillette headquarters, wherever they may be.
Glory to Ukraine!
• R. Emmett Tyrrell Jr. is founder and editor in chief of The American Spectator. He is a senior fellow at the London Center for Policy Research and the author most recently of “The Death of Liberalism,” published by Thomas Nelson Inc. His memoirs, “How Do We Get Out of Here: Half a Century of Laughter and Mayhem at The American Spectator — From Bobby Kennedy to Donald J. Trump,” will be published by Post Hill Press in September and can be ordered online now from Amazon and Barnes & Noble.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.