Adweek ran a report titled, “Branding’s Year of Fear: A Look Back at Six Blatant Backlashes from 2024,” spotlighting brands that experienced blowback for a variety of reasons. The six instances included the following:
Diversity takes a hit
After years of embracing diversity (at least on paper), a phalanx of household-name brands including Ford, John Deere, Target and Lowe’s decided to abandon it in 2024, dismissing some of the very ideals they’d trumpeted until recently. After the 2020 murder of George Floyd prompted much c-suite soul searching and resulted in written pledges to increase diversity and equity inclusion, the social pendulum seems to have swung back in a case of fear caused by fear.
Social conservatives spooked and angered by corporate wokeness coalesced around activist Robbie Starbuck, whose accusatory tweets and boycott threats then spooked and angered the corporations. A recent Public Private Strategies Institute survey showed that 82% of business leaders still believe in DEI, but 2024’s counterstrike means they’ll probably be quieter about it.
Okay, but it should be noted Adweek abandoned its dedication to DEIBA+ content in early 2023.
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