Voting with your dollars? Learn about where companies and corporations stand so you can be better informed.
It’s January 27, 2025 and I live in the United States. I write that date for context, as things will be changing, flipping, flopping, twisting, turning and generally throwing us off balance every day to come for the foreseeable future.
In an effort not to overload your nervous system, I won’t comment on all of the things going on, but in this post I’ll focus on how we can vote with our dollars and energy to divert more money into building a more robust local community, which may be a really beautiful thing to sprout from such chaos.
First, let’s take a quick snapshot of American corporations and where their values are.
This is a list of just some of the companies who have donated to Trump in any way, or to Project 2025.
If you don’t know by now, I don’t believe Trump cares for Americans. I believe “America First” for him is specifically America as a corporation; it is not Americans first. I am not interested in supporting companies who have poured money into anything supporting Trump or Project 2025, so this post is for you if you also cringe at supporting those corporations..
Remember – the problem often holds the solution. These companies whose values may not align with yours may lose your business, which means your business will be funneled into other smaller and independently owned businesses, which takes away some of the corporate power of these brands. And there is part of a solution..
Anyway, here are the companies that have donated to Trump or to Project 2025:
- 1800Flowers
- ACE Hardware
- Act Flouride
- Alamo Rental Cars
- Allegiant Air
- Amazon
- Anthropologie
- Apple CEO
- Arby’s
- Arizona Diamond Backs
- ArmorAll
- Ashley Furniture
- Auto Zone
- Bacardi
- Bali Underwear
- Baskin and Robbins
- Bausch + Lomb
- Big Heart Pet Brands
- Bike Athletics
- Blue Bell
- Boost Mobile
- Brooks Shoes
- Buffalo Bills
- Buffalo Wild Wings
- Buick Cadillac
- Carl’s Jr.
- Champ Clothing
- Charmin
- Chevrolet
- Chiquita Brands
- Cincinnati Financial
- Cinnabon
- Conair
- Coors Beer
- Cuisinart
- Dairy Queen
- Dean Foods
- Dirt Devil
- Discount Tire
- Dole Foods
- Dudley Sports
- Enterprise Rental Car
- Exxon
- Farberware
- Florist.com
- Folgers
- FruitBouquets.com
- Fruit of the Loom
- Frys Electronics
- Garmin Sports Products
- Geico
- George Forman Grill
- GMC
- GNC
- Grey Goose
- Hanes
- Hardee’s
- Helzberg Diamonds
- Hendrick Motorsports
- Hershey Products
- Hobby Lobby
- Home Goods
- Hoover Vacuum
- Horizon Bank
- Jimmy Deans
- Keller Williams Realty
- L.L. Bean
- Land o Lakes
- Las Vegas Sands
- Leggs Pantyhose
- Los Angeles Angels
- Maidenform Underwear
- Marshalls
- Martins Famous Pastry Shoppes
- McDonald’s
- Meta
- Meta CEO
- Microsoft
- Miller Beer
- Milwaukee’s Best Beer
- Mobile
- Molson
- Molson Beer
- Motorola
- My Pillow
- NAPA Auto Parts
- New Orleans Saints
- Norwegian Cruise
- NY Yankees
- Old Dutch Foods
- Omni Hotels
- OpenAI CEO
- Oreck Vacuums
- Papa Johns
- Playtex
- Procter & Gamble
- Public Storage
- Publix
- Purdue Farms
- Rail Vac
- Schlotzsky’s
- Shell Oil
- Sierra Trading Post
- Slumber Land
- Smucker’s Products
- Soma Intimates
- Sonoco
- SpaceX
- Spalding
- Stanley Black and Decker
- Hardware
- Star Furniture
- Stiletto Tools
- Tampa Bay Buccaneers
- The Popcorn Factory
- Tito’s Vodka
- Toast Master
- Tractor Supply
- Turtle Wax
- Uber CEO
- Urban Outfitters-Free People
- Vanity Fair Paper Products
- Walmart
- Wendy’s
- Wonder Bread
- Wow Cable
- Wynn Resorts
- Young Brands
In addition to those companies who directly donated to Trump and Project 2025, some companies engaged in other behaviors that don’t place value on the working American.
Companies like Trader Joe’s, Amazon, Starbucks and SpaceX are working together to sue the National Labor Board, which protects the labor force from labor violations.
And then there is the list of companies who are preemptively ditching their DEI programs in response to Trump’s administration canning the DEI initiatives and offices from the federal government. (maybe they don’t know that one of the ways to counter authoritarianism is to not comply in advance…)
The Grio has compiled a list of companies who have abandoned their commitment to DEI, and I will list them below:
- Target
- Amazon
- Walmart
- Meta
- McDonald’s
- Harley-Davidson
- Lowe’s
- John Deere
- Tractor Supply
- Brown Forman
As for companies who remain committed to their DEI policies? The only one I really want to list is Costco; I don’t feel good about listing many others with so many flipping and flopping.
So, how to stop funneling as much of your money into problematic corporations?
Shop from local stores
If you have the time and capacity to really boycott some big brands, it may mean making more small stops at independent local stores and putting your money into your local economy.
Purchase directly from independent brands locally and online
And if you do feel compelled to shop at places like Target after they dropped their DEI initiative, do your best to select brands from their suppliers who are people of color. Below I’ll list some of Target’s Black owned brands so you can find them there, or better yet – purchase from them directly.
Diversify your grocery options
Farmers markets are always a great local solution for local produce, baked goods, cheeses, etc. but another great solution that is open year round (if you’re in a city or town large enough to have one ore more) are the Ethnic markets. Shop your local Asian, Indian or Hispanic markets.
You’ll be putting your dollars into the local economy, supporting small businesses and local immigrant families, and the produce is often better and less expensive.
I will update these lists as I have time and as we learn new information. The best action any of us can take as far as our dollars and energy is to bring our dollars into our local communities as much as we possibly can. The upcoming tax cuts aren’t going to help regular Americans or small businesses so let’s do our personal best to do that. And just to be clear, I am speaking to those of us who have the privilege to make really strategic shopping choices. Not everyone does. And if you need to shop at Walmart or Ace Hardware, you take care of you first and shop wherever you need to shop.
And at a time like this when our broligarchy/patriarchy/corporate daddy is doing what they can to bleed us dry, this is a great time to hold back on spending altogether in the ways we can.
Hang tight to your hearts, friends, we’re gonna need them!
Other blog posts you may enjoy:
2025: a Year to Stand for Human Rights, Justice and Equality
Ahhh… The Fall of the Patriarchy… My Favorite Season!
Art and Politics… How Art Tells the Stories of the Times.