[0xy]

Do people actively do this? My politics are so "off-center" that I'd starve to death in the street if I only associated with people and companies whom I agreed with politically.

How do you even keep track? If someone asked me the political stances of my closest colleagues or largest software partners I couldn't even tell you.

[s9w]

There was a time when companies were just companies and politically neutral. That was truly a good time. If they play this misguided game I think it's only fair to punish them. It's just baffling that even the giants do this - Coca Cola Germany or Siemens as examples.

[eesmith]

Okay, I'll bite - when was this time? Because I can't think of any.

Consider how many companies were not politically neutral on the issue of worker's rights and unionization. Or neutral on employing members of the Communist party.

Or, quoting https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_American_newspapers - "The Republican party was especially effective in building a network of newspapers in major cities to broadcast its statements and editorialize in its favor."

That certainly sounds like the newspaper companies of the early 1800s weren't politically neutral.

[s9w]

Well newspaper companies are kind of special, no? They very often have vocal and official slants.

But I think it's questionable if beverage or kitchen appliance companies should align themselves with a political party. That will by definition alienate some customers. And historically I have a hard time of seeing this prior to the last 10 or so years.

[eesmith]

That was simply the clearest, least controversial example I could think of.

I seemed to have missed this controversy - what are you talking about with beverage companies aligning themselves with a political party?

In any case, Coors seems like an appropriate historical example, what with the Coors family involvement in CO and conservative politics, and the long boycott against Coors - https://www.cpr.org/2014/10/03/the-coors-boycott-when-a-beer...