Consumers’ Research launches ‘woke alerts’ for shoppers

A conservative nonprofit launched a text alert system this week designed to warn shoppers to avoid products from companies accused of catering to the “woke agenda.”

Consumers’ Research, a Washington, DC-based group poised at the intersection of policy and consumerism, introduced the “Woke Alert” on Friday.

By entering a phone number, conservative-minded shoppers will receive text updates on companies deemed to have strayed too far left in their marketing and other strategies.

“Many corporations are putting progressive activists and their dangerous agendas ahead of customers,” the sign-up page reads.

“They’ll only succeed if we look the other way.”

As of Friday morning, the group had already issued warnings on Bud Light — which recently came under fire from the far right for partnering with trans activist Dylan Mulvaney — and Jack Daniel’s 2021 “Small Town, Big Pride” campaign.

The Woke Alert launch is supported by a six-figure ad campaign to drive interested users, Axios reported.


"Woke Alert" signup page.
The “Woke Alert” launched on Friday.
Consumers’ Research

“We are launching Woke Alerts to help consumers make better-informed decisions about where to spend their money,” executive director Will Hild told the outlet.

“We believe companies should focus on their customers and not woke politicians and progressive activists.”

Left-wing voices, however, were quick to hit back at Consumers’ Research’s efforts.


Dylan Mulvaney posing with Bud Light.
Bud Light is under fire for its partnership with Dylan Mulvaney.
Dylan Mulvaney/Instagram

“I hate to break it to the radical right, but people in this country are a lot more concerned about paying for an eighty-dollar tank of gas than the color of their Budweiser bottle,” Anna Bahr, a political consultant with Left Flank Strategies, told Axios.

“The right wing is hell-bent on moving our country backwards, and this new text service is laughable,” Rep. Robert Garcia (D-Calif.) agreed.

In addition to the Woke Alert, the group’s website features a tracker of environmental, social and governance (ESG) legislation.


Jack Daniels ad.
The group cited Jack Daniel’s for its 2021 campaign that featured drag queens.
Consumers’ Research

Consumers’ Research maintains that the so-called “movement” is another ideological play by the left.

But despite all its public efforts, the self-appointed watchdog remains somewhat mysterious. Consumers’ Research had an $8 million budget in 2021, the Washington Post reported earlier this year — but does not disclose its donors.

Hild, who joined the group in 2020, is also close with Leonard Leo, a Republican lawyer and former executive vice president of the Federalist Society who campaigned for the Supreme Court confirmations of Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh and Amy Coney Barrett, among others, the Washington Post said.


Consumers' Research web page.
Consumers’ Research has already issued alerts.
Consumers’ Research

“Consumers’ Research and its leader Will Hild are executing the most impactful pushback I know against ESG and other aspects of woke corporate culture,” Leo told the outlet in an email.

“It’s time that businesses that are out of step with the sentiments of most Americans pay a price for their standing up for woke special interest instead of consumers.”