I enjoy lists. Some say they’re a lazy way of filling up space or creating conversation (I guess they are guilty of that) but building lists has always fascinated me…so long as one realizes that it involves opinions and, like all opinions, there is no absolute “right” or “wrong”.
Having said that, this is one of the more fascinating lists I’ve run into in a while. The headline above gives it away. From Fortune magazine, we have…
Fortune 500 Companies Liberals and Conservatives Hate the Most
Going into the article and while trying not to give everything away (you should read it!), I could guess certain companies which might be on liberal hate lists. Primarily, Walmart (due to their minimum wage/anti-union policies) and probably several oil companies (there were), and probably Wall Street/Banking related companies. As for companies on conservative “hate” lists, Target was on it (perhaps due to their bathroom policies?!) as well as Freddie Mac and Fannie May (both of which have been derided plenty of times by conservative talking heads).
But forget about all that.
The main reason I pointed out this article is because of this:
Conservatives listed a dislike for Pepsi-Cola while Liberals expressed a hatred for Coca-Cola.
Really?!
While their dislike for either company isn’t “high” on their lists, it was most curious to see what conservatives and liberals felt regarding soda companies. The big question is: Why would that be? The article concludes with this:
Perhaps (the respective dislike for soda companies) has to do with their corporate colors. (Coke is red. Pepsi is blue.) Or maybe it has to do with the general political leanings of where the companies have been based. Coke is in the South. And Pepsi’s headquarters is in the Northeast. But for whatever reason, the Coke-Pepsi political divide is just another sign that when it comes to politics, commerce is less immune than ever.
Very weird.
I’m a liberal but I have to admit to finding it hard to build up any “hate” toward a soda company.
Then again, that’s just me.