A clear majority of consumers want companies to take public positions on issues such as climate change and human rights, a new Weber Shandwick survey finds. Eric McGregor—LightRocket (Getty Images)
good morning.
One of the great roller coasters of the past decade has been watching US-based CEOs struggle with how to respond to controversial social issues. More than a decade ago, most people would have hid under their desks before commenting on things like police brutality and transgender people’s use of public restrooms. But that started to change for him around 2014, and the pandemic accelerated that change even further. This trend peaked in 2020 with the police killing of George Floyd, which forced nearly every major company CEO to issue public comments.
Today, the pendulum has swung back, or rather, it has been pushed back by politicians attacking “woke” companies and trying to shut down CEOs. In the face of this political backlash, many large companies have developed new processes and mechanisms to help them decide when to speak up and when to remain silent. No one wants to find themselves in the situation that former Disney CEO Bob Chapek found himself in in Florida, or the governor of a red state looking to score political points. No one wants to be under attack from the Attorney General.
But while many companies and CEOs are retreating, the general public apparently isn’t. At least that’s the result of a new study released this morning by Weber Shandwick officials. As a result, a majority of consumers still believe companies should take public stances on important social issues such as human rights (82%), climate change (73%), racism (72%), and gun violence (70%). It turned out that they expected to take the. About 65% of employees say their companies have a responsibility to speak up, even when issues are sensitive or controversial. And this is the most interesting part of the last number. This figure has increased by 7 percentage points since Weber Shandwick’s last survey in December. While political backlash may be making CEOs think twice, it appears to be having the opposite effect on employees.
“The message here is that despite all the anti-woke rhetoric and all the noise, corporations still have the lead on social issues,” said Pam, Weber Shandwick’s chief communications officer. Mr. Jenkins told me yesterday. “I can’t say anything today. Companies have to find ways to depoliticize the conversation, but we need to keep the conversation going.”
Please see the news below for more information. Next week I will be taking a break for a change of pace. My colleague Peter Vanham writes the newsletter.
alan murray
@alansmurray
alan.murray@fortune.com
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around the water cooler
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Wealthy Americans will go to extremes to live longer, from downloading their brains to taking dangerous drugs Written by Alexa Mikhail
This issue of CEO Daily was curated by Nicholas Gordon.
