With the caveat that there are reasonable, historical concerns for equity (ie, knock-on effects of redlining), there is also a strong basis for—in most cases, with mod US citizens—locating aggregate market choices in a purely democratic process.
30% drop in sales for Bud Light is dramatic. It makes me think that something like 60% of regular drinkers self-identify as conservative and half of those were motivated enough to change their consumption habits (whether it’s the small choice of picking Miller Light or the more dramatic choices of picking a marked-up “right wing” or “central US craft” alternative).
Definitely a Minsky moment in the sense that they didn’t change their habits on a dime. But it is dramatic, and it does (even in a dialectical materialist sense) force companies to change their calculus of how to voice concern for real issues. Because for 10 years the game has been “rainbow-wash for June, pretend to throw some money at DEI or environmental initiatives; we might gain a little bit on the margins from leftists who otherwise would choose not to buy but we can’t really lose much because conservatives getting annoyed doesn’t cost us money.”
I have had a nice time shorting TGT
Nice choice of front picture....
With the caveat that there are reasonable, historical concerns for equity (ie, knock-on effects of redlining), there is also a strong basis for—in most cases, with mod US citizens—locating aggregate market choices in a purely democratic process.
30% drop in sales for Bud Light is dramatic. It makes me think that something like 60% of regular drinkers self-identify as conservative and half of those were motivated enough to change their consumption habits (whether it’s the small choice of picking Miller Light or the more dramatic choices of picking a marked-up “right wing” or “central US craft” alternative).
Definitely a Minsky moment in the sense that they didn’t change their habits on a dime. But it is dramatic, and it does (even in a dialectical materialist sense) force companies to change their calculus of how to voice concern for real issues. Because for 10 years the game has been “rainbow-wash for June, pretend to throw some money at DEI or environmental initiatives; we might gain a little bit on the margins from leftists who otherwise would choose not to buy but we can’t really lose much because conservatives getting annoyed doesn’t cost us money.”
Now it does. Now they have to be more thoughtful.