See, here’s the thing. There’s a fair amount of soft support for gun control, but only a small number of gun control supporters do so with any intensity. On the other hand, there are a lot more gun-rights supporters with high intensity. So it’s bad for companies. Trouble is, the high-intensity gun control supporters are disproportionately found among the people who run companies and those they associate with. This tends to cause them to virtue-signal to their own crowd at expense of the businesses they’re in charge of.
Related: CEOs Choose Sides on Gun Control at Their Own Risk.
In some cases, companies’ responses have unleashed an online backlash as heated as the initial social-media firestorm—a reminder to companies that in placating one consumer group, it’s easy to alienate another.
A recent survey found companies that have ended discounts for National Rifle Association members in recent days lost more than they gained in reputation. For example, while MetLife Inc.’s 45% favorable rating didn’t change after respondents learned it ended its NRA discount, the proportion of respondents with an unfavorable view of MetLife doubled to 24%. The poll of 2,201 Americans was conducted by market-research firm Morning Consult. A spokesman from MetLife declined to comment.
Atlanta-based Delta Air Lines Inc. incurred the wrath of several prominent Georgia conservatives, including Casey Cagle, the lieutenant governor, after dropping its discount on flights to the National Rifle Association’s annual convention. The lieutenant governor also threatened to kill a pending bill that would provide a jet fuel tax break at Atlanta’s airport, Delta’s main hub.
Remember the rule: Get woke, go broke.