Hundreds of companies signed on to a letter which ran as a two-page ad in the Wednesday print editions of the New York Times and Washington Post. The purpose of the ad was for the leaders of the companies to show their opposition to voting law reforms currently under consideration in many states. Two corporations not listed were Coca-Cola and Delta Airlines. This was odd given their vocal opposition to a bill signed into law by Governor Brian Kemp at the end of March from both companies. What happened?
After Georgia’s election reform law was signed, Delta Airlines and Coca-Cola came under pressure from black CEOs to come out against the new law. So, they did. Others caved to the pressure, like Home Depot, but Coke and Delta were the most public about their opposition. The CEOs gave cable television interviews and used social media to get their messages of woke opposition out.
Amazon and Google are two of the big companies that signed the two-page ad in Wednesday’s newspapers. Others include General Motors, Netflix, Starbucks, BlackRock, Target, Facebook, Bank of America, MasterCard, and United Airlines. United Airlines made headlines last week for announcing a new quota system to be implemented in hiring pilots to increase diversity. The letter is an exercise in virtue-signaling where none is needed. The Georgia bill, for example, has been criticized yet those doing so do not point to any specifics. Blanket statements are for dramatic effect, not for productive discussion. Read more…
