Levi’s wades deeper into culture wars with gun control move
Nike wasn’t the only big corporation to make a statement in the country’s culture wars this week: San Francisco jeans-maker Levi Strauss & Co. hopped back into the fray with a pledge to fund gun control activism.
In the company’s announcement, Levi’s said it would donate more than $1 million over four years toward a “Safer Tomorrow Fund” for youth activists and groups “working to end gun violence in America.” Levi’s also said it would support employees with “paid volunteer time to get more politically active.”
“As business leaders with power in the public and political arenas, we simply cannot stand by silently when it comes to the issues that threaten the very fabric of the communities where we live and work,” Levi’s President and CEO Chip Bergh wrote in an op-ed for Fortune. “While taking a stand can be unpopular with some, doing nothing is no longer an option.”
The announcement came the same week that Oregon athletic-wear giant Nike publicized a campaign featuring former San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick, who caused a stir in 2016 by refusing to stand during the national anthem to protest police violence against blacks.
Nike’s foray into the anthem debate sent its stock plunging and prompted shoe and sock-burning protests from those who feel his anthem-kneeling protests disrespect the country’s military veterans. President Donald Trump weighed in, of course, saying the move sent a “terrible message.”
Levi’s announcement quickly drew fire from the National Rifle Association and gun-rights supporters on social media. The NRA said the legendary jeans maker “took a public stance against” the Constitution’s Second Amendment right to bear arms and customers who support it.
There were plenty in Twitterville hopping onto that bandwagon, like Cacho Perez, who identifies as an NRA member. “Time to ban Levi’s and make them feel PAIN just like Nike!”
But there were also plenty ready to defend the clothier, like “Star Trek” star George Takei, who tweeted: “Good for them.”
In its announcement, Levi’s also said it would partner with Everytown for Gun Safety, the nation’s largest gun control group, and executives from the business community, including Michael Bloomberg, “to form a coalition of business leaders who believe that business has a critical role to play and a moral obligation to do something about the gun violence epidemic in this country.”
Levi’s said the decision was spurred by customer complaints about patrons bringing concealed weapons into its stores, one of whom actually accidentally shot himself trying on the iconic denim pants. The company noted it has a long history of social activism that includes being a leader in gay rights for employees in the 1990s.
“We have never been afraid to take an unpopular stand to support a greater good,” the company statement said.
How that will play out with investors and consumers remains to be seen. The company in May reported its third consecutive quarter of double-digit revenue growth.
Dick’s Sporting Goods last month reported a bigger-than-expected drop in quarterly store sales after it announced it would stop selling assault rifles and high-capacity magazines and bar the sale of guns to people younger than 21 following a Florida high school massacre in February.