The diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) bus has rolled out on another iconic American brand as the maker of Jack Daniel’s whiskey has abandoned its former pursuit of the strategy.
The Kentucky-based company announced to employees that it would no longer connect executive pay to DEI progress, that it would end its annual ranking of LGBTQ-friendly companies, and that DEI-themed corporate training sessions would be suspended. The company’s webpage on “Diversity & Inclusion” also appeared to have been taken down, according to Daily Mail.
Jack Daniel’s decision follows in the footsteps of similar moves in recent weeks by Harley-Davidson, Tractor Supply, and John Deere, all targeted by activist Robby Starbuck, who has been on a mission to expose and reverse the DEI schemes at various corporations. He shared the news on X along with a screenshot of the email that the whiskey maker’s parent company Brown-Forman sent out.
Jack Daniel’s “must have been tipped off by us going through employee LinkedIn pages,” Starbuck wrote.
Big news: The next company we were set to expose was @JackDaniels_US.
They must have been tipped off by us going through employee LinkedIn pages.
They just preemptively announced that they’ll be making these changes:
• Ending participation in the @HRC’s Corporate Equality… pic.twitter.com/0O1DkkIKrO
— Robby Starbuck (@robbystarbuck) August 22, 2024
“We’re now forcing multi-billion dollar organizations to change their policies without even posting just from fear they have of being the next company that we expose,” Starbuck wrote.
Brown-Forman, the name behind Jack Daniel’s, just made a smart pivot—scaling back on DEI initiatives and refocusing on what really matters.
🚫🏳️🌈🚫They’ve unlinked exec bonuses from DEI goals and stepped out of certain rankings, proving they’re ready to adapt without losing… pic.twitter.com/m3g0urnXv4
— Krista Monroe (@MsKristaMonroe) August 22, 2024
“We launched our diversity and inclusion strategy in 2019,” Brown-Forman executives wrote in the letter to employees. “Since then, the world has evolved, our business has changed and the legal and external landscape has shifted dramatically, particularly within the United States.”
“With these new dynamics at play, we must adjust our work to ensure it continues to drive business results while appropriately recognizing the current environment in which we find ourselves,” the letter continued.
The company will no longer be taking part in the Human Rights Campaign’s Corporate Equality Index social credit system and said it will be ending “quantitative workforce and supplier diversity ambitions.”
Check out the before and after screenshots of @brownforman’s DEI page.
The after is a beautiful sight.
Brown Forman owns Jack Daniel’s, Old Forester, Woodford Reserve, GlenDronach, BenRiach, Herradura, Korbel and Chambord. Glad we could motivate them to end their wokeness. 😉 pic.twitter.com/vFaeFaEXMp
— Robby Starbuck (@robbystarbuck) August 22, 2024
