We’ve been saying “Get Woke, Go Broke” for a long time. Now, it seems like “Get Woke, Go Broke” is intensifying, as PR firm Zeno is reportedly advising major corporations not to publicly take a position regarding the Roe v Wade draft leak.
Among Zeno’s clients includes Coca-Cola, Salesforce, Hershey’s, Netflix, and Starbucks.
The following was included in “a template email to share with client contacts”, as it was worded by Zeno’s Executive Vice President for Media Strategy, Katie Cwayna:
Do not take a stance you cannot reverse, especially when the decision is not final. This topic is a textbook “50/50” issue. Subjects that divide the country can sometimes be no-win situations for companies because regardless of what they do they will alienate at least 15 to 30 percent of their stakeholders… Do not assume that all of your employees, customers or investors share your view.
Finally, major corporations are starting to use their heads! They are starting to figure out that if you take a public position on a controversial topic, you risk alienating a significant portion of your customers, resulting in your company becoming less profitable. They’re finally figuring it out!
I like how Cwayna says “Do not take a stance you cannot reverse”, as if to acknowledge that there is a lot of pride on the line. Sure, the implication is that once a company issues a statement, the dominoes begin to fall, and the losses continue from there. But we all know that CEOs are proud, not willing to admit that they made a wrong call. After all, if they admit to making a wrong call, people might lose confidence in them.
By the way, the popular.info article claims that 72% of Americans oppose overturning Roe v Wade, which wouldn’t make it a “50/50” issue. Putting aside for a moment the deceptive framing it takes to arrive at that percentage, it should be known that Supreme Court rulings are not intended to pander to the majority, they’re supposed to consider constitutionality. Remember, one of the intents of the U.S. Constitution is to protect the minority from the tyranny of the majority!
The email template adds,
Avoid media “fishing.” Often during controversy, media will make general inquiries to multiple peer organizations, in which the first one to “raise its hand” becomes the lead. In a case like this, being at the center is not advisable so be judicious if/how general inquiries are managed.
Don’t become the first corporation to issue a public statement, if you do so at all. After all, the first one to raise their hand and start speaking has the potential to become the most notorious, and therefore become more likely to be the target of focused boycotts.
Steer clear of breaking news networks/outlets. We anticipate the story will dominate newsfeeds for the rest of the week as more details unfold, so avoid pitching reporters and outlets that focus on breaking news.
What your company shares on social media does matter. Even that much can be construed as taking a position that could end up costing your company money. That may not be what Cwayna expressly stated, but we know it’s true. Closer to the intent of Cwayna’s message, it should be understood that media outlets may pressure a company into taking a position, and that it would be advisable to avoid them.
Do not engage with direct questions about your company’s position. Whether in direct messages or public-facing posts, do not respond to questions about where your company stands on this issue.
Play it safe: Keep your mouth shut. Do not take a position, even if you’re pressured into taking one. The SJW NPCs and the mass media have been pressuring major corporations to take a position, and now Zeno is saying, “don’t cave in”.
After posting their article reporting on this, Popular Information received a response from Zeno’s CEO, Barby Seigel:
The email you reference does not accurately reflect Zeno’s position or the range of counsel that we are providing to clients.
It was meant to advise clients within the first 24 hours of breaking news, and its intent was to counsel clients to be measured in their immediate response to a complex developing story.
We take seriously our responsibility to help clients proactively navigate complex societal issues, consider the actions they may take, and the accompanying communications, internally and externally.
We know and understand that companies are increasingly expected to take a stand on major issues, and we believe it’s right to do so when it is authentic to the organization, and consistent with their values and actions.
At Zeno, we believe in equal access to healthcare for all, and a woman’s right to make decisions about her healthcare. At the same time, we live in a world with different opinions and different views, and we respect those differences.
This response was written tactfully, in a manner consistent with the company’s advice, but at the same time, providing just enough apparent virtue-signaling to keep the SJWs off of them. Particularly, it’s a response to Popular Information’s stance that their advice “contrasts with Zeno’s public facing communications, which emphasize the importance of standing up for women’s rights.”
On Twitter, Zeno Group claimed that they are “proud to support #InternationalWomensDay.”
It was a low-risk, low-cost virtue signal, as all but a fringe minority of western society is for women’s rights, and the idea of “support” has been reduced to a mere sentiment with no cost. You can say you “support” something like cancer research by sharing links on Twitter, but that’s not the same as supporting cancer research with substantial grants to cancer researchers.
There is one part of the CEO’s reply that I’d like to zero in on:
We know and understand that companies are increasingly expected to take a stand on major issues, and we believe it’s right to do so when it is authentic to the organization, and consistent with their values and actions.
I’ll decode this for you: Don’t go taking a political position, even if you’re expected to, unless politics is intrinsic to the overall aims of your company. For example, if you’re Hershey’s, your deal is chocolate, not politics, so keep your nose out of politics.
I know that the left likes to say “it’s not political, but a matter of basic decency”, and similar platitudes. Don’t fall for it, because there’s still the potential for divisiveness. If you run a company whose product or service is not intrinsically political, you should answer along the lines of,
This isn’t a political company. But if it’s something that’s expected of anyone anyway, why not assume that we’re decent people? In any case, we don’t need any recruiters prowling about.
Or, if you want to be less wordy,
We make products in order to sell them, so back off.
When it comes down to it, what the political left wants is to have power over you. Whether it’s you, your home, your business, your job, your education, or so on, the left wants to have power over you, and they’ll use any platitude, any rhetorical device, any pressure, just about anything that they possibly can. They themselves are fond of saying “by any means necessary”.
Finally, large corporations are realizing that they can play it safe by not issuing a public position! Leftism has long turned major corporations into their own weapons. But now, it looks like they’re losing them!
Magnetricity 
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