“ Wokeism ” has been driving the news cycle lately, running the gambit from transgender-endorsed beer, tuck-it swimsuits for children, and a military more worried about diversity, equity, and inclusion (as well as its carbon footprint) than in destroying the enemy. But one interesting byproduct of all this “wokeness” is often either ignored or missed by corporate media: the backlash to people and organizations that go “woke” and then make the “mistake” of course-correcting back to mainstream. It proves something those on the Right have said for years: “The 'woke' mob will eventually eat its own.”

Take, for example, Bud Light. A corporate executive, Vice President of Marketing Alissa Heinerscheid, made the decision to try to make Bud Light more relevant in the 21st century by partnering with a controversial transgender influencer, Dylan Mulvaney. “I had a really clear job to do when I took over Bud Light ,” Heinerscheid said. “This brand is in decline. It has been in decline for a very long time. And if we do not attract young drinkers to come and drink this brand, there will be no future for Bud Light.”

In comes Mulvaney, who sported custom-made Bud Light cans featuring the influencer’s face. It was a marketing decision that belongs in the Pantheon of Stupid along with New Coke, Zima, and trying to sell the Chevy Nova in countries where “Nova” translates to “does not go.” As a result, Bud Light’s parent company, Anheuser-Busch , has lost more than $15 billion — yes, billion — in value.

Anheuser-Busch understandably is in crisis mode and started a new campaign in an effort to show that the Budweiser family of beers is all-American and patriotic, bringing back the Clydesdale and images of the American flag. Now, leftists are upset, accusing Anheuser-Busch of insufficiently supporting Mulvaney and the LGBT ideology and launching their own boycott. Human Rights Campaign Senior Vice President Jay Brown, in a letter to Anheuser-Busch, demanded that the company provide executives with transgender inclusion training and stand in solidarity with Mulvaney. Brown continued, “When faced with anti-LGBTQ+ and transphobic criticism, Anheuser-Busch’s actions demonstrate a profound lack of fortitude in upholding its values of diversity, equity, and inclusion.”

Anheuser-Busch is now in a no-win situation. It can either continue to lose sales of Bud Light, continuing to destroy the market value of the company, or it can try to fight the "woke" mob, who will make more noise than simply boycotting the product.

Target is facing a similar situation after it launched a Pride clothing line and displays, including a tuck-it bathing suit for children. Adding fuel to that fire, Target’s Pride collection has been linked to designer Erik Carnell, “an outspoken Satanist whose brand features occult imagery and messages like ‘Satan respects pronouns,’ on brand apparel,” according to reports.

In response to criticism, negative press, and public pressure, Target moved the displays to the back of its stores and removed some items — after losing more than $9 billion in value.

Enter the Left, led by Gov. Gavin Newsom (D-CA). Newsom tweeted that Target CEO Brian Cornell was “selling out the LGBTQ+ community to extremists.” He continued, “There is a systematic attack on the gay community happening across the country. Wake up America. This doesn’t stop here. You’re black? You’re Asian? You’re Jewish? You’re a woman? You’re next.”

The Human Rights Campaign also paused its campaign against Anheuser-Busch to release a statement regarding Target’s actions. HRC President Kelley Robinson said, “Target should not be responding so easily to criticism and threats from the likes of the Proud Boys. Target should put the products back on the shelves and ensure their Pride displays are visible on the floors, not pushed into the proverbial closet.”

Target was not “woke” enough for the "woke" mob.

Ironically, a third example comes from the Bad Boys of Rock 'n' Roll, the Rolling Stones. The band did not play their classic song “Brown Sugar” during their last tour, ironically called the No Filter Tour. They pulled the song from their set list because activists said it glorified slavery (it did not). But all this move did was anger the band’s fans, for whom the song is a concert classic with huge audience participation, and anger activists who thought the band should not only remove the song but apologize for ever writing and performing it. Previously, only the Chinese Communist Party had been able to prevent the Stones from playing that song, during their concert in Shanghai, China, in April 2006.

These are just three examples, but there are many more. Corporations must wake up and realize two important basic principles. The first comes from famed economist Milton Friedman , who simply said, “The business of business is business” — not social justice, not DEI. Corporations should worry less about their ESG scores and more about creating shareholder value. Second, corporations should be very careful when choosing to go “woke” because, eventually, the Left will come back to eat its own.

Jim Nelles is a supply chain consultant based in Chicago. He has served as a chief procurement officer, chief supply chain officer, and chief operations officer for multiple companies.