A cottage industry of corporate consultants has cropped up along with the woke movement, purporting to help companies navigate a charged political environment. But are these consultants helping in a time of conflict, or simply exploiting the conflict for political and financial gain? Mark Hemingway reports for RealClearInvestigations on the boycott, blacklist, and “brand safety” business:

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• After the success of progressive organizations like Sleeping Giants in leading boycotts of conservative media outlets, leftist entities have arisen to advise companies on how to avoid becoming the targets of boycotts themselves.
• Brands turn to these advisers to help protect themselves from backlashes over everything from old content deemed politically incorrect, as in the case of Disney, to ads appearing alongside contentious news stories.
• “Check My Ads,” created by Sleeping Giants co-founder Nandini Jammi, tells companies where to advertise to avoid controversy—namely, at like-minded liberal news outlets.
• The website ethicalconsumer.org targets companies for specific business practices — for example, Air France for transporting monkeys to laboratories; and Amazon for avoiding taxes.
• “Good on You,” rates brands on their environmental and social positions, but also makes money driving traffic to specific retailers and promoting certain clothing brands — a potential conflict.
• Boycott advocates like Jammi now fear they have inadvertently punished their media allies, because risk-averse corporations preemptively steer their ad dollars away from any even remotely divisive news.
• Keyword blacklisting on stories about the coronavirus cost publications $1.3 billion in five months alone.

Hemingway’s article can be read here.