Woke-Baiting, Anti-Woke Marketing, and Why Brands Need to Pick Their Moments
Here’s the thing: anti-woke marketing works… until it doesn’t.
It’s the marketing equivalent of eating nothing but candy, sure, it gives you a quick sugar rush, maybe a stock bump, maybe even a bunch of free media coverage — but it leaves you queasy and doesn’t build a healthy brand. We’ve seen this play out with Bud Light, Target, and most recently Cracker Barrel. The data is undeniable: when anti-woke consumers get angry, they vote with their wallets, and it moves markets.
The temptation for brands to jump into the fray is real. After all, in an attention-starved economy, outrage is free distribution. But here’s why it’s a dangerous long-term play, and what a smarter strategy looks like.
Why This Strategy Works (for a Minute)
Let’s be honest: the anti-woke crowd is organized, motivated, and effective. They show up, they boycott, they buy differently. We’ve watched billion-dollar brands take a measurable hit after triggering the wrong tribe.
And let’s not pretend all of these incidents are accidents. Some companies are doing this intentionally. We can call it woke-baiting, but the playbook is simple: make a “triggering” change, sit back while social media melts down, and ride the wave of attention. You get press, you get conversation, you get relevance.
For brands struggling with stagnant growth, that kind of earned-media storm can look like genius. But it’s also playing with fire.
The Golden Rule: Only Be Woke if Your Whole Industry Is
Here’s where brands get into trouble: they try to take bold social stances in categories where their customers aren’t looking for a conversation.
If you make guns, you’re not going to suddenly run ads advocating for stricter gun control and expect a sales bump. That’s not “bold,” that’s brand suicide.
If you’re Hooters, no one is asking you to lead a national conversation on gender parity. The whole business model is built on chicken wings and cleavage, you can’t suddenly pivot to feminist thought leadership and expect applause.
Chick-fil-A, on the other hand, knows its lane. They make choices, they don’t flinch when people yell, and their fans reward them with loyalty. You may not agree with their positions, but they’re consistent and their audience expects it.
And on the flip side, Patagonia is the perfect example of a brand that should take a stand, because their entire customer base expects them to. When they sue the government over public lands, their customers cheer, because it’s perfectly aligned with their brand DNA.
That’s the point: most brands should stay politically agnostic unless their entire target market and industry are on the same page. And if you are going to make a stand, pick your moments carefully, because the shock of a brand suddenly going woke is like a slap in the face. And nobody wants to be slapped every day.
You Can’t Build a Brand on Spite
Even when anti-woke or woke-baiting “works” in the short term, it’s ultimately a shallow play.
You alienate the other side. Even if “woke” consumers aren’t as vocal with their wallets, they notice when a brand picks a side, and they remember.
You lock yourself in crisis mode. You’re reacting to outrage cycles instead of driving your own narrative.
You cheapen your brand. If your biggest differentiator is “we’re not woke,” you’ve reduced yourself to a bumper sticker.
The Long-Term Problem
The more you play this card, the less powerful it becomes. Outrage has diminishing returns. What’s shocking the first time becomes boring the fifth time, and eventually people stop paying attention — or you find yourself selling to a smaller, angrier, more tribal base.
If you overplay it, you risk becoming a brand that only sells to one group of people, which might be fine if you’re a niche product, but it’s a terrible growth strategy if you’re a national chain.
The Smarter Play
The brands that win long term are the ones that have clarity about who they serve and speak to them authentically.
If you’re going to take a stand, make sure it ladders back to your values and resonates with your audience. Don’t just do it as a stunt to trend on X for 48 hours.
Cracker Barrel is a perfect case study. If they had simply stood by their logo change with pride and a little southern humor, they could have owned the conversation. Instead, they let outsiders define the narrative, and then they backpedaled, which pleased no one and made them look weak.
Own your decision. Don’t let outrage own you.
Yes, you can lean into anti-woke sentiment and maybe get a nice bump this quarter. But brands built on outrage tend to stay in outrage mode. And brands that go woke every week just look exhausting.
Pick your moments, make them count, and make sure they fit your audience, because surprise political statements are like slaps in the face, and nobody wants to be slapped every day.