First it was US-based retailer Tractor Supply that succumbed to anti-woke activists. Now actual tractor maker John Deere is in the sights of American anti-woke activists.Notorious online influencer Robby Starbuck has Deere & Company — maker of the iconic John Deer farm implements — in his latest sights for its DEI and LGBTQ-advocacy policies.On Tuesday he took to Twitter (‘X’) to blast what he called one of America’s “most beloved brands by conservative farmers” for a laundry list of actions including funding Pride events for children as young as three, requiring ‘preferred pronouns’ on all internal communications and its ‘green’ energy policies..He also criticized the company’s 95/100 ‘corporate equality index’ (CEI) score by the Human Rights Campaign (HRC) that ranks companies for their treatment of sexual minorities. The only reason it didn’t get 100/100 is reportedly for not having a separate benefits guide for same sex couples and employees.Starbuck also noted that Bill Gates is the company’s biggest shareholder.Under “CEO John May’s watch, they’ve gone woke.”.Deere is one of the US’ oldest and most iconic companies, founded in Moline Illinois in 1837.In his post, Starbuck complained the DEI and race-based identity policies are undermining that legacy, and spreading to Latin America and even India.It comes as Deere has announced layoffs in the US and plans to shift large segments of production to Mexico.“To put it mildly, John Deere seems to have forgotten who their customers are. Having a farm myself, I’m disgusted that a once great American brand is now taking this turn to seemingly embrace leftist policies that are diametrically opposed to the values of most farmers.”.And he vowed to press the campaign until consumers — not himself personally — win.“The customer is king and most of us just want companies we shop at to stop virtue signalling about divisive social cultural and political and political issues,” he wrote.And if Tractor Supply is any indication, he is more than prepared to take it to the limit. Last week, the US’ largest rural retail chain succumbed and issued a formal apology for its woke policies and vowed to redirect advocacy efforts to veterans and farm groups like 4H.“As we saw with my Tractor Supply stories, millions of people spoke out against these types of woke policies and ultimately, Tractor Supply did the right thing by eliminating woke policies, trainings and positions because of your voices.”A similar boycott campaign against Bud Light is estimated to have American brewer Anheuser-Busch nearly USD$2 billion in lost sales and its dominant market share position.
