Corporations line up for protesters
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Nike, Twitter, WarnerMedia, Netflix and Citigroup are among the corporations to publicly back the protesters in recent days, The N.Y. Times reports.
Why it matters: "Major companies are often wary of conflict, especially in a polarized time. They tend to be afraid of offending their customers and associating their brands with sensitive subjects," Tiffany Hsu wrote.
What they're saying: Many companies updated their Twitter bios to include the hashtag #BlackLivesMatter in their bios or publicly posted, such as Nordstrom, Ben & Jerry's and Tik Tok.
- Mark Mason, the chief financial officer of Citigroup, wrote a post on the company's site that repeated George Floyd's plea for help, "I can't breathe," per the Times.
- WarnerMedia brands changed their names to #BlackLivesMatter.
- Nike released an ad on Friday that said, "For once don't do it."
Yes, but: Many of the businesses who expressed support for the protests or George Floyd have had complicated relationships with race in the past, the Times writes. "To many people, the supportive corporate sentiments fell short without offering funding or other substantive resources. But some companies said nothing at all."
- Starbuck posted a letter on Saturday encouraging "courageous conversations," but had to implement anti-bias training in 2018 after two black men were arrested in a store after they didn't order anything while waiting for a friend.
Go deeper: How Big Tech has responded to the protests
