Another major company is hopping on a controversial trend in corporate America in order to avoid a Bud Light-style boycott.
Molson Coors (TAP.A) a top U.S. beer company, has caved under pressure from its conservative consumers to axe its diversity, equity, and inclusion, or DEI, policies.
Related: Lowe’s cuts back major policies amid woke blowback
In an internal email that was sent to employees at the company, which was unveiled conservative activist Robby Starbuck on X, Molson Coors revealed that it will be ending DEI-based training programs for its staff members, claiming that it has been “completed” after having widespread participation.
Also, future training programs at the company will undergo an audit to ensure that they are all focused on “key business objectives.”
The company is also renaming its “employee resource groups” to “business resource groups” to “provide clarity” that they are focused on “business objectives, consumer dynamics and career development.”
Molson Coors also stated that going forward, its future charitable giving will be solely supporting “hometown communities” and its “core business goals.”
In addition, the company will no longer be participating in the Human Rights Campaign’s Corporate Equality Index, which tracks LGBTQ+ corporate policies and practices. Also, by next year, Molson Coors said that it will ensure that compensation for executives at the company will be tied to business performance and not “aspirational representation goals.”
The company is also ceasing diversity supplier goals, claiming that the metrics can be “complicated” and “influenced by factors” outside of its control.
Molson Coors’ DEI page on its website is also now unavailable.
Starbuck claimed in a tweet on X that the changes from Molson Coors came after he messaged executives at the company last week warning them that he was planning to “expose their woke policies.”
Companies are running away from DEI
Molson Coors is the latest company to cut its DEI goals after major organizations over the last few months have also been participating in the controversial trend. Just last week, retail giant Lowe’s (LOW) pulled back on its DEI policies after facing criticism from consumers as well as shrinking sales.
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“Like many other companies, in July 2023, after the Supreme Court's decision in the Harvard/UNC cases, we began reviewing our diversity and inclusion programs to ensure they are lawful and aligned with our commitment to include everyone in the incredible opportunities here at Lowe's and ensure that no one is excluded,” said Lowe’s in an internal email to its employees. “We made some changes to our programs so they can more effectively further this commitment.”
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The U.S. Supreme Court ended affirmative action in college admissions in June last year, which has prompted many companies to cut their DEI goals. According to a recent analysis from Bloomberg, more than two dozen public companies, including Molson Coors, mentioned DEI as a risk factor in their securities filings due to the Supreme Court’s decision.
The change from Molson Coors also comes after its competitor, Bud Light, faced a boycott in April last year for featuring Dylan Mulvaney, a transgender social media influencer, in one of its social media campaigns that promoted a $15,000 giveaway. Many of its conservative consumers took issue with Mulvaney’s advocacy for transgender rights.
The boycott resulted in Bud Light losing its spot as the top-selling beer brand in the U.S. Anheuser-Busch’s (BUDFF) U.S. earnings later plummeted by hundreds of millions of dollars.
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