Consumers mobilize against corporate DEI programs
A right-leaning consumer advocacy group, Consumers’ Research, is mobilizing its members to contact major corporations that continue to support diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programs. This effort targets companies like Apple, Delta Air Lines, Microsoft, Sephora, and Costco, which are holding firm on their DEI commitments despite pressure from conservative circles and the Trump administration to abandon such initiatives.
In a memo, Consumers’ Research criticized these companies for allegedly engaging in discriminatory practices, such as enforcing racial hiring quotas and providing DEI-related bonuses to executives. Even as some companies, like Costco, bolster their DEI efforts with community engagement and racial initiatives, others like Delta Airlines have faced backlash, leading them to modify their public messaging on DEI.
While Microsoft and Apple publicly uphold their DEI commitments, companies like Meta and boeing seem to be scaling back their initiatives in response to conservative feedback. The issue remains contentious, with companies remaining divided on the balance between DEI commitments and external pressures from advocacy groups. As the debate continues, Consumers’ Research is strategically leveraging its member base to challenge corporate DEI programming across various industries.
Consumers mobilize against corporate DEI programs
EXCLUSIVE — A right-of-center consumer advocacy group is mobilizing its members to flood the phone lines of corporations that have maintained or stood firm on diversity, equity, and inclusion programming in 2025, according to a copy of a memo obtained by the Washington Examiner.
Apple, Delta Air Lines, Microsoft, Sephora, and Costco have all, to varying degrees, kept or even expanded DEI in their corporate structures, resisting pressure from the Trump administration and Republican policymakers to ditch the practice.
Consumers’ Research is directing its tens of thousands of members to call the corporate offices of these five firms to “demand they stop pushing discriminatory DEI programs.”
“Despite the public’s understandable revulsion at the racist DEI agenda, these companies are choosing to double down on woke discriminatory behavior,” Consumers’ Research Executive Director Will Hild wrote in the memo to members of his organization. “Examples include imposing racial hiring quotas, excluding qualified applicants from brand incubation programs because of their skin color, and conferring hefty DEI-related bonuses to executives. It is all blatant racial discrimination and should be treated as such.”
Costco has become one of the most well-known DEI stalwarts of the second Trump administration. After the corporation’s shareholders overwhelmingly rejected a proposal to evaluate risks posed by its DEI efforts, it won the support of racial provocateur Al Sharpton, who called on like-minded individuals to support Costco by purchasing its goods. In addition to the shareholder vote, Costco asks its suppliers if they are “51% owned and operated by one or more” racial or sexual minorities, provides its executives with DEI-related bonuses, and funds an LGBT community center that assists children in accessing transgender procedures.
While Costco has yet to waver publicly from its commitment to DEI, some cracks are showing in other firms flagged by Consumers’ Research. Delta Airlines, for instance, took down a webpage documenting the racial demographics of its employees following pressure from Consumers’ Research.
Shortly after President Donald Trump took office for the second time, and as his administration plotted against DEI, Delta released a statement emphasizing its commitment to the ideology.
“We are steadfast in our commitments because we think that they are actually critical to our business,” Peter Carter, Chief External Affairs Officer at Delta, said in February. “Sustainability is about being more efficient in our operations and really DE&I is about talent and that’s been our focus.”
Delta’s CEO has echoed similar sentiments.
In the tech sphere, Apple and Microsoft remain committed to achieving “pay equity” for their employees. Apple, similarly to Costco, advised its investors to reject a shareholder proposal to “Cease DEI Efforts” in January.
“If ever there were a critical time for the business case for diversity and inclusion in the workplace, it is now … Our innovation has come from our commitment to Diversity and Inclusion (D&I), and our future innovation depends on D&I,” Microsoft’s Chief Diversity Officer and Corporate Vice President of Talent and Learning, Lindsay-Rae McIntyre wrote in October 2024.
Meanwhile, other companies, including Meta and Boeing, appear to be bending to conservative pressure by reining in corporate DEI efforts.
“In early 2025, we announced changes to our diversity programs in light of the shifting legal and policy landscape,” Meta wrote in a corporate filing after ending its DEI initiatives. “We will continue to work to build an inclusive workplace where we can leverage our collective cognitive diversity to build the best products and make the best decisions for the global community we serve.”
Sephora is singing a different tune.
The beauty retailer boasts on its website that it seeks to become “the Diversity, Inclusion, and Equity Champion in the retail industry.” To this end, it maintains a program to fast-track beauty products developed by “founders who are people of color” and has “an executive DE&I Steering Committee.”
HOW THE BIDEN ADMINISTRATION INJECTED DEI INTO NUCLEAR SAFETY AND LANDSLIDE PREPAREDNESS
Consumers’ Research is funded by individuals, corporations, and nonprofit foundations, including those linked to the conservative movement, such as Donors Trust and the Bradley Impact Fund.
Apple, Delta, Microsoft, Sephora, and Costco did not respond to requests for comment.
" Conservative News Daily does not always share or support the views and opinions expressed here; they are just those of the writer."
*As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases
