Conscious consumers like to pride themselves on supporting companies that align with their personal values, ethics and political preferences. Sometimes, it’s obvious. For example, Patagonia’s progressive perception is proven by 100% of its contributions going to Democrats, according to the Goods Unite Us mobile application. But often it’s not clear which political party a company supports. And in many cases, companies have a reputation that is actually  inconsistent with its political contributions. The difficulty consumers can face in evaluating the political leanings of brands and companies is demonstrated in “The most popular companies in America, ranked by partisan leaning,” a recently released article by Axios.

For example, Under Amour, despite being 7.1% more favorable by Republicans, actually along with its senior employees sends a staggering 86% of donations to Democrats! To a lesser extent, Walgreens and its senior employees lean left in contributions with 54% of donations to Democrats, despite being more favorable among Republicans.

And Target, who is 13.6% more favorable among Democrats, barely leans right in its  donations, with 51% heading toward Republicans. 

While consumers struggle to decipher the politics of these companies, the contributions of many companies actually do align with what the public would expect. For example, Google and Starbucks are far more liked by liberals and they, along with their senior employees, donate overwhelmingly to Democrats, at 75% and 91%, respectively. On the other hand, Republicans greatly favor Chick-fil-A and Papa John’s, who along with their senior employees send 81% and 96% of donations to the conservative party.

Many companies that are universally favorable, and equally so among both Democrats and Republicans, happen to lean left. These companies include Netflix (98%), Apple (92%), Walt Disney (78%), and Amazon (67%).

Grocery stores seem to be one of the least transparent industries when it comes to political activity, as Wegmans (78% to Democrats) and Publix Super Markets (86% to Republicans) both receive equal favorability among those on the right and left. In fact, both are among the most highly reputable brands according to the public.

Frankly, it can be difficult to tell which way companies lean by simply looking at consumer perception or even popular media. That’s why you should download the Goods Unite Us app today!