MolsonCoors Rolls Back DEI Programs

MolsonCoors, a company with a perfect score on the Human Rights Campaign’s Corporate Equality Index and the title sponsor of Denver’s 2023 Pride, is rolling back their Diversity Equity and Inclusion programs.

A year ago, amid boycotts of Bud Light for hiring a trans influencer, Coors stood strong as the sponsors of Pride, saying they would sponsor the parade for “decades to come” in a statement.

Coors is one of many companies ending DEI initiatives in response to far-right influencer Robby Starbuck’s threats of boycott. Brands like John Deere, Lowes, Jack Daniels, and, most recently, Toyota have ended corporate DEI trainings, announced they will no longer sponsor Pride, and stopped sending information to the HRC’s Corporate Equality Index. 

The Human Rights Campaign has called Starbuck a “MAGA bully and Republican reject,” and noted his far-right rhetoric. The video announcing Coors rollback includes a PNG video of his face cut onto Gavin Hattersley’s (CEO of MolsonCoors) LinkedIn page. There is a message from Starbuck, presumably in a LinkedIn thread with Hattersley, saying that they are “investigating corporate policy for wokeness and discriminatory DEI policies.”

“I reach out to executives at major companies that we’re investigating before we run stories on them,” the message reads, “to have a conversation about how those policies may be shifting in this climate.”

Though difficult to imagine Starbuck contacting the CEO of Coors, the video then cuts to a Google search of “Coors Diversity Equity and Inclusion,” a web page that no longer exists. He shows an internal memo from Coors, subject line, “Next step of our culture journey.”

“Our movement is about something more than just ending wokeness; it’s about ending the idea of the silent majority. There’s nothing more shameful than that for the past few decades, we’ve accepted the idea of being a silent majority… We are speaking up now; I am your megaphone,” Starbuck concludes in front of a can of Coors Light. 

But, Also, Why?

A year ago, Coors stock jumped 29% from April 1 to August 1 as both conservatives and the queer community held a boycott against Bud Light, according to Barron’s. For the first time in 20 years, Bud Light lost its spot as the most popular beer in the United States, demonstrating the damage of incorrectly navigating a “culture war.” MolsonCoors, which shares a moderate yet conservative customer base with Bud Light, doesn’t seem willing to risk conservative ire. 

Additionally, backlash to DEI programs has been increasing for years. This culminated in 2023 when the court used Title VI of the Civil Rights Act to rule affirmative action unconstitutional. Simultaneously, DEI job listings fell as much as 48% from 2022, according to Lightcast. Law firms such as America First began to file cases arguing that DEI itself in workplaces was illegal. Starbuck is the latest, and loudest, voice fighting against the integration of workplaces, one companies like Coors are caving to.

“We’ve seen so much change and so much progress, the legalization of gay marriage, which I never thought would happen in my lifetime. And I think that has led to a sense of complacency,” says Scott Coors, grandson of former CEO Adolph Coors Jr., who worked on the original HRC business council during the creation of the Corporate Equality Index. 

“They see that our rights have been achieved, and they are putting themselves at risk from the conservative side of their business by continuing to support something that they feel has been put in a safe place … It’s the only thing I can think based on my understanding of the attitudes of the people I worked with, back when I was (at Coors),” he adds. 

The HRC released a survey on the day following Coors’ announcement stating that eight in 10 LGBTQ adults would boycott a company that rolled back DEI. 

“The LGBTQ+ community, with its $1.4 trillion in spending power, remains steadfast in its desire to see corporations continue their support for their LGBTQ+ employees and consumers,” reads the HRC Foundation 2024 LGBTQ+ Climate Survey.

If Coors wants to avoid repeating the mistakes of Bud Light, consistency is important to weathering the media storms. Bud Light’s caving to homophobia, along with their inconsistency, lost them loyal customers in 2023.  

“I think the way Anheuser-Busch handled the situation did a huge disservice to literally everyone. Caving in and backpedaling made them look so insincere and weak, and I think it emboldened and paved the way for those who take issue with diversity initiatives to dogpile the entire industry. That was sad,” Coors says.