Cancel culture is everywhere, and we need to talk about it. Why is this happening? Blurred lines between business and politics mean companies are getting canceled for their political views. As a reminder, here are the top four companies that people tried to cancel.
1. Sneakers and football
When Nike, the sneaker giant, decided to collaborate with the blacklisted former NFL star Colin Kaepernick, conservatives were furious. Kaepernick is notorious for kneeling during the national anthem, which he said was in protest of racial inequality and police brutality. Some circles interpret his refusal to stand as anti-American and anti-military, and for others, he’s a hero. His deal with Nike was alienating for some, to say the least.
2. Canned food
Goya, the popular Hispanic food company, earned the ire of Democrats for showing support for President Trump. The Goya CEO announced that his company would donate 1 million cans of chickpeas (what we call garbanzos) and another 1 million pounds of food to food banks in the U.S. That seems nice, but it all went south when he mentioned that it was all part of Trump’s Hispanic prosperity initiative, praising the president for his contributions to the Latino community. Pandemonium ensued.
3. Coffee and Keurigs
This next business boycott came with many videos of property destruction. We’re talking, of course, about conservatives smashing their Keurigs. Back in 2017, the coffee machine company pulled ads from Sean Hannity’s primetime Fox News show because he supported Roy Moore’s senate campaign. You might remember the accusations of sexual misconduct that the candidate was facing at the time. Reacting to the ad boycott, Hannity fans filmed themselves destroying their own Keurig machines that they paid at least $200 for. Some were thrown off balconies, many were beaten with baseball bats and one was even shot with an arrow!
4. Pillow fights
Even pillows are getting canceled. You know which one: MyPillow. Liberals now hate MyPillow and its founder, Mike Lindell. Originally, he was just a friendly pillow guy with a mustache. Before we knew it, he was all over Twitter talking about voter fraud bolstered by President Trump’s voter fraud claims; Lindell received several Twitter warnings. Then they canceled him, and they canceled MyPillow, too. Now he’s stuck in quite a tricky legal situation that we’re still watching. Meanwhile, Parkland shooting survivor, David Hogg, decided to start a liberal pillow brand. So now we live in a world with Republican and Democratic pillows. What on earth? We just want to get some sleep.
There are so many examples of corporate America getting canceled. Do you think it’s fair? And did we miss anything? Any notable cancellations that you think are worth mentioning? Let us know in the comments below.
