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Jack Daniels is the latest brand to throw in the towel on DEI

August 23, 2024 | | Print Article

The makers of Jack Daniel’s whiskey are following in the footsteps of other iconic American brands and leaving diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) in the dust.

After consumer backlash and ahead of a targeted boycott by conservative activist Robby Starbuck, the whiskey maker’s parent company Brown-Forman sent employees a letter announcing an end to its former pursuit of the DEI strategy.

“Jack Daniel’s “must have been tipped off by us going through employee LinkedIn pages,” Starbuck wrote on X where he included a screenshot of the firm’s letter.

“We’re now forcing multi-billion dollar organizations to change their policies without even posting just from fear they have of being the next company that we expose,” Starbuck wrote.

Jack Daniel’s decision follows in the footsteps of similar moves in recent weeks by Harley-Davidson, Tractor Supply, and John Deere, all targeted by Starbuck who has been on a mission to expose and reverse the DEI schemes at various corporations.

Brown-Forman executives told employees that they “launched our diversity and inclusion strategy in 2019,” adding that “Since then, the world has evolved, our business has changed and the legal and external landscape has shifted dramatically, particularly within the United States.”

“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,” the letter continued.

“This evolution began in January with the launch of a new strategic framework, and today, we wanted to share the next step in our work. First, we believe we must make some changes to account for the ever-changing landscape,” the leadership team wrote, noting that these changes include ensuring that “executive incentives and employee goals are tied to business performance” and not DEI progress.

The Kentucky-based firm would be “Removing our quantitative workforce and supplier diversity ambitions” in addition to reviewing DEI-themed corporate training sessions which would be suspended. The letter also announced an end to the company’s participation in the Human Rights Campaign’s Corporate Equality Index survey – and annual ranking of LGBTQ-friendly companies.

The company’s webpage on “Diversity & Inclusion” also appeared to have been taken down, according to the Daily Mail.

“We will continue to foster an inclusive work environment where everyone is welcomed, respected, and able to bring their best self to work,” the executives insisted. “And we will continue to reinforce our shared responsibility for building a global Brown-Forman team that reflects the many customers and geographies we serve.”

Starbuck gave X users a “taste” of the mountain of evidence that he was about to expose on the company’s DEI strategy.

“Honestly this is fascinating that preemptively they released this before our video on them came out. Very, very smart on their part. I’m told by a source that all woke events will stop too,” Starbuck wrote in another post, saying the company “gets credit for not waiting for their brand to be destroyed to make changes. Other companies should similar save me time and make these changes now before we get to you.”

Frieda Powers
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