(Bloomberg Opinion) — A new development in the culture wars is about to create a fresh set of headaches for corporate America.
Issues that left-wing advocacy groups have been heckling companies about for decades are increasingly being taken up by the right — a shift that’s adding complexity and risk for CEOs already struggling to navigate this moment’s deep ideological rifts.
There is no better example of the left-right convergence than Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s recent Make America Healthy Again report. Many of the factors it accuses of contributing to childhood chronic disease — ultra-processed food, pesticides, and corporate lobbying’s influence on regulation — have historically been scourges of the left.
“What they’re talking about and demanding is not that dissimilar than what the left has been talking about for the last 10 years,” says Charlotte Moore, CEO of Sigwatch, a consultancy and data provider that recently issued a report tracking some 160 US right-wing campaigning groups. But here’s where things get complicated: While the end goals of these two factions might be the same, their framing is radically different. Right-wing activists focus on moral clarity and outrage (e.g. defending personal freedom, protecting children), while left-wing campaigns tend to evoke existential threats (e.g. saving a burning planet).
We’ve already seen how the right has applied its tactics to incite a backlash against diversity, equity and inclusion (freeing the public from the tyranny of “wokeness”). Now it’s zeroing in on a similar narrative as it tackles issues once thought to be outside the interests of conservatives. Take biotechnology, such as GMOs and pesticides. Activism around these concerns originated in lefty environmentalism. But right-leaning groups that have taken up the cause have instead focused on a rallying cry of the freedom to be healthy and protect children from being poisoned. The latter framing is especially powerful, transforming “disputes into existential moral threats, where opponents aren’t just wrong — they are corrupting or endangering the next generation,” as Sigwatch explains it.
This should be a wake-up call for companies that thought the backlash against DEI and ESG meant they no longer had to pay attention to social issues. “ESG is not going to resurrect itself, but the risks that come from having negative impacts on communities and societies have not gone away,” Moore told me.
In fact, she sees those risks becoming more significant. Communities that weren’t interested in these subjects when they were raised by bougie-seeming left-wingers can and are being mobilized on the very same issues by the right. It may also lead to pressure on companies and sectors, such as the energy industry, that previously viewed conservatives as allies.
Companies should be prepared to see some unusual but powerful coalitions going forward. Vani Hari, for example, self-dubbed the Food Babe on social media, has long been an effective critic of Big Food — as well as a one-time Democratic supporter. Recently, though, she’s aligned herself with the Trump administration, which has cast her as a central figure in its food policy. However, she would not discuss her views on Kennedy’s vaccine skepticism or budget cuts to food programs with the New York Times, saying, “I don’t understand why it has to be all or nothing. My mission is my mission.” It’s a sign that some more progressive figures are willing to ally with the right — despite not agreeing with it on everything — if it means furthering their agenda.
Corporate America has been facing left-wing activists for decades, which has made their pressure less frightening and more routine. Moore says management teams are less sure of how to respond when the heat is coming from the right because they haven’t seen it before. Case in point: how quickly companies caved to activist Robby Starbuck’s attacks on DEI. The business world should expect to see savvy left-leaning activists like Hari reignite their campaigns by forming some of these unlikely partnerships.
Despite the risks of being double-teamed by the left and the right, it’s a better position than being pulled in two opposite directions. Just ask Target Corp., which has failed to make anyone happy with the way it’s handled its DEI policies. Companies that find themselves in the middle of this unusual political overlap have a better chance to actually appease both sides.
But it requires understanding — and treading carefully around — their divergent motivations. Those that take action by, say, eliminating a controversial food additive should let the move speak for itself. Issuing a self-congratulatory press release that talks about environmental stewardship or ESG will only raise the hackles of the right. That’s a surefire way for a company to drag itself back into the outrage machine it’s just tried to escape.
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This column reflects the personal views of the author and does not necessarily reflect the opinion of the editorial board or Bloomberg LP and its owners.
Beth Kowitt is a Bloomberg Opinion columnist covering corporate America. She was previously a senior writer and editor at Fortune Magazine.
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