Boycott culture forces CEOs to walk tightrope in era of Trump

New York

WHEN the Budweiser brand prepared to release a potentially controversial commercial two weeks ago, its social-media monitoring team got to work.

The ad tackled the hot-button subject of immigration by depicting founder Adolphus Busch coming to America in the 19th century, and the company wasn't sure how customers would react. So it tracked tens of thousands of posts to see how the commercial was received and took solace when 78 per cent of online conversations were neutral or positive. Despite some pleas to boycott Budweiser, managers decided they had made the right decision to air the ad.

Those types of deliberation are increasingly common for companies in America's polarised culture, which presents a damned-if-you-do, damned-if-you-don't dilemma. Advertise on Breitbart News and get boycotted. Stop advertising on Breitbart and get boycotted. Cooperate w…