Why would a global company take a public stance on racial equality? Why would your favourite ice cream brand be vocal on climate change?

Lewis Nicholas is a PhD researcher in Lancaster University Management School, and he is here to talk to us about how and why businesses take a stand on contentious socio-political issues.

We find out how corporate political activism first emerged, what makes for a contentious issue, why and how businesses have switched from being the targets of protest to being on the side of protestors, and what companies do in support of their stances.

Lewis tells us why it can be just as risky for a company to try to sit in the middle on issues as it is to take a definitive position on one side or the other, tells us what the Colin Kaepernick example and his work with Nike and on racial equality show us, and considers how companies take messages beyond one day or one month of the year.

But are we cynical to think companies only act on an issue when it is specifically in their profit-making interests? Do they risk trivialising causes? Does the tech industry just look which way the political winds are blowing before taking a stance? And we consider whether this activism is all just woke capitalism, or whether conservative activism is a thing as well.

We get caught up in the bad puns that make up Ben and Jerry’s ice cream flavour names; discuss Michael Jordan’s views on whether politics and business should mix; consider whether it is normal for Jan to have a favourite company; and get lost among the Jenners and Kardashians.

Find out more about Lewis and his research here: https://www.lancaster.ac.uk/lums/people/lewis-nicholas

This is an example of corporate political activism from Absolute: https://www.absolut.com/en-us/leading-with-pride/

And here is another example from Ben & Jerry’s: https://www.benjerry.co.uk/values

Episode Transcript