Mike Lindell is discovering the downside of becoming known as a right-wing crank.
Or so the My Pillow chief executive claims. He says that in recent days, Bed Bath & Beyond, Kohl’s and Wayfair have dropped his product.
Lindell is convinced their decisions are related to his continued support for Donald Trump’s claims of a rigged election, telling Yahoo Finance that the retailers were pressured by “left-wing groups that attack with bots and trolls.”
As more and more business leaders choose to speak out on contentious political and social matters, CEOs will increasingly be called on to help shape the debate about such issues.
The range of messages some succinctly conveying the executive s outrage, others arguing for the removal of the US President was a study in crisis communications, and in what makes a powerful piece of corporate messaging.
Something similar happened over the summer, when, after the killing of George Floyd, leaders across industries publicly vowed to prioritize racial equity within their organizations. At the time, LaToya Evans, a corporate communications and PR veteran who s worked at companies like IBM and Walmart, told Insider that when a company doesn t speak out against racism, it will almost certainly be damaging to their business in some way. Evans added that opting out of being vocal during this time simply isn t an option.
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Jay Timmons, the CEO of the National Association of Manufacturers, released a public statement on the US Capitol riot Wednesday.
The statement was a uniquely powerful piece of corporate communication.
Insider asked Harvard Business School professor Michael Toffel, who studies CEO activism, to help explain why.
Timmons takes a stance, explains why, and makes concrete demands for change, which is different from messages that other business leaders shared.
On Wednesday afternoon, the National Association of Manufacturers released a statement on its website: Manufacturers Call on Armed Thugs to Cease Violence at Capitol.
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Insider analyzed 23 messages from CEOs across industries responding to the attempted coup at the US Capitol Wednesday.
The strongest messages called for unity and made clear demands of government officials.
Effective statements also explained why this issue mattered to the leader at the company.
On Wednesday, a pro-Trump mob stormed the US Capitol while Congress was confirming Joe Biden s win in the presidential election. It took hours for authorities to clear the Capitol building. Five people died.
As news of the attempted coup spread, business leaders across industries including tech, finance, and healthcare sent staff memos and issued public statements decrying the violence. Collectively, the messages expressed sadness, outrage, and hope for a better future.