Mini: Don't Let DEI D-I-E

As brands across the country scale back or scrap their DEI initiatives, it’s time to ask: what happened to the values they claimed to stand for? In this short solo episode, we examine the wave of corporate rollbacks on diversity, equity, and inclusion—from Target and Amazon to McDonald’s and Coca-Cola—and what these choices say about brand integrity.

We’ll dig into:

• Why DEI isn’t a “nice-to-have,” but a business imperative
• The backlash companies like Target are facing from consumers and investors alike
• How younger, more diverse audiences are demanding more from brands
• Why retreating from DEI can cost you both brand equity and customer loyalty

Brought to you by Mekanism. 

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:12):
Welcome to the sol and Science Podcast.

Speaker 2 (00:14):
This is a mini podcast episode and this is called
Don't letde Don't let DEI Die, And this topic is
really all about the recent pushback that we've seen across
brands and companies against diversity equity inclusion. Major corporations have

(00:36):
kind of rolled it back. For example, Target, Walmart, Amazon, Meta,
even big brands that you think wouldn't like McDonald's and Coke,
have made the public decision to scale back, restructure, or
just terminate all their DEI efforts wholesale. So it's clearly
happening because of political pressure executive orders where we are

(00:58):
in our.

Speaker 1 (00:59):
Political climate today.

Speaker 2 (01:01):
You know, it just shows how corporations flip flop based
on whatever's happening in the zeitgeist at the time. And
they really went all in on DEI because they thought
consumers were expecting that, and then as soon as there's
political pressure to go a different way, they back off
of it. So it's kind of sad that they don't
stand by their principles, which apparently weren't very value based

(01:22):
to begin with. So I've been watching this from my
advantage point with a real sense of concern. Let's be clear,
the idea of di I is not a nice to have,
it is a you must have, and it's very important.
A lot of what we do is help brands build relationships,
foster loyalty, and drive growth in that di I isn't
just important, it's an undeniable business imperative. And we're already

(01:45):
seeing the immediate painful consequences for some of these companies
that are doing rollbacks. Like Target is kind of the
lighthouse for this a brand that was once a leader,
especially in social spaces, and they were driving a lot
of store sales. Who was helping their business. They're now
facing nationwide boycotts because they've been rolling it back, and

(02:06):
they've been hit with legal challenges from their investors alleging
financial and reputational harm because they rolled back their DEI
practices and their stock price has dropped twelve percent. So
this backlash is not theoretical, it's also financial, so it's
really impacting the business by rolling it back.

Speaker 1 (02:26):
So hopefully they'll change course. So why does this matter?

Speaker 2 (02:30):
I think today consumers is particularly the younger generation and
diverse communities, have a louder voice than ever before. They
expect brands to reflect values, not to bend down to
political pressure but really focus on a more equitable society.

Speaker 1 (02:46):
And when a brand walks back DEI.

Speaker 2 (02:49):
It sends a message that we don't value your community,
or your experiences or what you think we should do
as a brand. That then consumers vote with their pocket
book and they will boycott your store, They will drop
your stock price, they will financially hurt a brand if
they think you are turning around from your values. So

(03:10):
from an advertising perspective, I think this retreat from DEI
is sort of like shooting ourselves in the foot and
limiting the full spectrum of consumers that we can talk
to or that we can market a product to.

Speaker 1 (03:24):
In short, the brands that will survive and thrive.

Speaker 2 (03:27):
In the coming years are those that continue to prioritize diversity,
the champion equity, and that foster inclusion not within their walls,
but throughout their entire marketing, their entire ecosystem. And I
think if you're an advertising agency working with one of
these brands or a brand in the future, it's our
job to help guide our clients through the complex landscape

(03:49):
and talk about why DEI is important for building brand
equity and why ultimately it's important for driving business performance
as well.

Speaker 1 (03:58):
All right, thanks.

Speaker 2 (03:59):
For listening to me on my soapbox talk about how
we should not let d e I d i e
h