To make the current BudLight, Target, and Dodgers controversies easier to discuss publicly, these moves by such companies are described as going "Woke". That's a polite way to approach the subject. The recent controversies are far more than just woke. This is about the corporate world intruding their questionable morals into the private lives of their potential customers and, worst of all, interfering in the development of their customer's children.
While it's not the same, the clothing and merchandise that Target displays have a relationship to the books on the shelves of the local elementary school.
How does a company avoid getting dragged into this quicksand?
It's especially difficult if the management has caused many recent changes and the brand's history has undergone an erasure or a revision. This would have been most apparent in company divisions that had much to do with branding and advertising. An easy thumbnail? Take a quick audit of the average staff ages of the different divisions. The younger the department, the more dangerous it will be for the brand's future.
Some companies are lucky. They'll have a layer of franchisees or dealers who are able to step in and act as a buffer to keep the corporate types from taking the brand down the wrong path. That is, if said franchisees or dealers will step up and act as a roadblock
to any possible deliberate or accidental reimaging. Some will step up; some will run and hide.
The above picture is dramatic. Is Target going to self-destruct? Heck if I know. That's above my pay grade. I do know that if, fifteen years ago, someone had told me that Sears would soon be gone, I would have scoffed at the idea.
