Analysis
April 11, 2013 (Family Research Council) – Plenty of companies have argued that natural marriage is “bad for business“–but they'll have a tough time persuading J.C. Penney. After a series of radical decisions, the retailer is struggling to survive a 25 percent drop in sales.
It started in 2011 when the company hired Ellen DeGeneres, a vocal proponent of same-sex “marriage” as its spokesperson.
The choice drew fire from organizations like the American Family Association (AFA) because it was a departure from the store's longstanding values. When AFA's One Million Moms complained, J.C. Penney's new CEO, Ron Johnson, stubbornly dug in his heels.
Then, on Mothers' Day, the company shocked customers with a blatant endorsement of homosexuality in an ad that featured two moms–followed by a two-dads ad for Fathers' Day. Coupled with an overhaul of the stores' pricing system, the stock never recovered.
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Now, months after the experiment failed, J.C. Penney has fired Johnson and replaced him with the former CEO, Myron Ullman.
Hinting that the problems are more political than the media is reporting, Ullman said bluntly,
Whether the retailer will learn from its mistakes is yet to be seen. But J.C. Penney's freefall should serve as a warning to other companies who are itching to jump on the same-sex bandwagon. Pandering to those who want to redefine marriage (and the rest of society with it) may earn you a pat on the back from the Human Rights Campaign, but in the long term, it's bad policy.
Americans want corporate neutrality in the culture wars, and when they don't find it, they will go elsewhere.
This article originally appeared on the Family Research Council and is reprinted with permission.