Walgreens Boots Alliance, the parent company of British retailer Boots, has seen its stock decline during a turbulent week after facing backlash over its allegedly “woke” Christmas advert.
The stock closed Friday at $8.48, down 3.75 percent from Thursday, continuing a broader downward trend. Walgreens-Boots shares are down 66 percent over the past year and trading at their lowest since 1996.
Last week, Boots stirred conservative anger after releasing its Christmas commercial featuring actor Adjoa Andoh as Mrs. Claus and a scene referencing gender-inclusive pronouns, where Mrs. Claus uses they/them pronouns when referring to one gift recipient.
Newsweek has contacted Walgreens-Boots Alliance via email for comment.
Andoh was the subject of criticism in 2023, when she said King Charles III‘s coronation ceremony was “terribly white.” She made the comments during British channel ITV’s coverage of the coronation.
Broadcast regulator Ofcom received over 8,000 complaints about the comment, but decided not to take action.
Following Andoh’s inclusion in the Boots ad, many online critics have accused the company of promoting “woke” values and promised to boycott the brand over Christmas.
Darren Grimes, a presenter on conservative British television channel GB News, posted on X, formerly Twitter, “Look at the share price of Boots since their Christmas ad came out with the ‘terribly white’ race baiting actress. People power.” The post garnered 631,000 views by Sunday morning.
Another user @InevitableWest, a self-described “Defender of Western values and culture,” who has 61,800 followers on the site, also made a link between the advert and the stock price.
In a Friday X post, the user wrote, “BREAKING: Walgreens Boots Alliance inc’s (owner of Boots UK) has had $800 MILLION WIPED from their share capital following anti-white advert. Go woke, go BROKE. This is just the start.” The post was viewed 2.6 million times by Sunday morning.
While the drop coincides with the backlash, the stock has been declining in value for several years.
In October, Walgreens announced plans to shut down around 1,200 stores in the U.S. over the next three years in an attempt to overcome the $3-billion loss it recorded in its latest quarterly report.
No direct link between the ad and Walgreens-Boots stock performance has been confirmed.
The calls to abandon Boots this Christmas echo earlier conservative boycotts of American brands, where “Go Woke, Go Broke,” was a common rallying cry.
These have included the high-profile backlash against Bud Light in 2023 after the beer brand partnered with transgender influencer Dylan Mulvaney. Bud Light’s sales fell, and its parent company, Anheuser-Busch InBev, saw a drop in stock value.
Conservative influencers have continued to apply this pressure to other companies, with recent boycotts targeting Dunkin’ Donuts, Harley Davidson, and Tractor Supply for their apparent support of progressive causes.
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