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Jack Daniel’s Back on the Menu

Rodin
@Rodin
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In 2021, I organized a Ricochet meetup involving a tour of the Jack Daniel's distillery in Lynchburg, Tennessee. It was a fun day. The origin story of Jack Daniel's Tennessee Whiskey was compelling, if maybe a bit romanticized. And I became an enthusiastic consumer of Jack Daniel's.

But then came their sponsorship of LGBTQ+ and DEI. I am generally a tolerant fellow, but this was beyond the pale: the sexualization of children in targeted drag shows and their abuse and mutilation in "gender-affirming care" is unspeakably evil. I could not support any corporate entity that "celebrated" and promoted that activity. And so Jack Daniel's was banished from the liquor cabinet. (Of course, other bourbons and whiskeys were available to fill the void.)

Happily, it has been announced that spirits giant Brown-Forman Corporation which owns the Jack Daniel's brand is scrapping its DEI programs:

Brown-Forman will stop linking bonuses and pay to DEI progress, end its participation in an annual ranking of companies with an LGBTQ-friendly environment and throw out its plans to push for a more diverse group of suppliers, according to a copy of an internal memo posted on X. The company previously tied 10% of executives’ short-term compensation to progress on DEI goals, according to a 2023 annual report.

Why? Consumer pressure. "Go woke, go broke" is the only way to fight back.

“Since [2019], the world has evolved, our business has changed, and the legal and external landscape has shifted dramatically, particularly within the United States,” company executives told employees in a letter on Wednesday. “With these new dynamics at play, we must adjust our work to ensure it continues to drive business results while appropriately recognizing the current environment in which we find ourselves.”


So, now, Jack Daniel's is back on the menu.

Cheers.

This post was promoted to the Main Feed at the recommendation of Ricochet's members.

Discussion (17)

  • EODmom@EODmom

    It also pays to be professionally skeptical: those harpy HR women won’t leave willingly. They have been governing extravagant consulting budgets for the last 5-7 years on this stuff. Dining out on it and going to conferences. And you can’t fire female employees of the darker persuasion. I expect companies will drop the DEI designation but look for reports of continuing employee education under another rubric. I’d bet the HR headcount doesn’t go down.

  • Fake John/Jane Galt@FakeJohnJaneGalt
    The dropping of DEI is both good and bad. Understand that the LGBTQ+ / DEI stuff was pushed forward as very large companies that were making very good money was looking for angles to sell new product to new customer areas. While there are many that do not care for it, mostly they made more money selling stuff. I suspect what we are now seeing is the economy collapsing much larger and faster than the government is telling and corporation fell may be a long period of time depending on who wins the election. In such a case a good company will follow the Elon Musk view of getting lean and tough. DEI is a game many may not want to play if they need to get lean at this time.
  • DaveSchmidt@DaveSchmidt
    ReplyingtoEODmom

    EODmom (View Comment):

    It also pays to be professionally skeptical: those harpy HR women won’t leave willingly. They have been governing extravagant consulting budgets for the last 5-7 years on this stuff. Dining out on it and going to conferences. And you can’t fire female employees of the darker persuasion. I expect companies will drop the DEI designation but look for reports of continuing employee education under another rubric. I’d bet the HR headcount doesn’t go down.

    The titles may change but the personnel and functions will remain.

  • kedavis@kedavis
    ReplyingtoDaveSchmidt

    EODmom (View Comment):

    It also pays to be professionally skeptical: those harpy HR women won’t leave willingly. They have been governing extravagant consulting budgets for the last 5-7 years on this stuff. Dining out on it and going to conferences. And you can’t fire female employees of the darker persuasion. I expect companies will drop the DEI designation but look for reports of continuing employee education under another rubric. I’d bet the HR headcount doesn’t go down.

    DaveSchmidt (View Comment):

    The titles may change but the personnel and functions will remain.

    Probably so. Reason enough to continue any boycott for now, as with Bud Light et al.

    Otherwise, it's like, what, they only victimized a FEW children for a while, so it's okay to start buying again?

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