Consumers’ Research ad urges Levi’s, American Express to ‘serve customers, not woke politicians’

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EXCLUSIVE – Consumers’ Research is targeting Levi’s and American Express with a pair of new advertisements that put a spotlight on companies servicing "woke politicians" instead of customers by weighing into liberal politics that have nothing to do with their products. 

"Levi's and American Express have betrayed their customers," Consumer’s Research executive director Will Hild told Fox News Digital. "Their products were once synonymous with American freedom and prestige in the world, but now their CEOs have turned the companies into oppressive gulags of groupthink and anti-white racism." 

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Consumers’ Research, a nonprofit organization seeking to "increase the knowledge and understanding of issues, policies, products, and services of concern to consumers and to promote the freedom to act on that knowledge and understanding," has launched a six-figure ad buy that will include both TV and digital components known as the Consumers First Campaign. 

"As both of these companies near their annual shareholder meetings, Consumers' Research is calling out their disgraceful conduct and reminding them of their fiduciary duty to their shareholders and their moral duty to their customers, regardless of race," Hild said.  

The 30-second Levi’s ad notes that the brand "became iconic by making tough pants" but is now "notorious for pushing progressive politics, opposing the Second Amendment, attacking popular voter ID laws," in addition to mistreating employees.  

"Rather than leaving China, CEO Chip Bergh makes excuses," the narrator says. "An American icon washed away by woke politics."

As a visual of jeans tumbling around a dryer is show, the ad calls for Levi’s to "serve customers, not woke politicians."

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In February, then-Levi's brand president Jennifer Sey said the apparel company has forced her out over her outspokenness against COVID-related closing schools and that she gave up a $1 million severance package in order to continue espousing her views.

Levi’s did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The 30-second American Express commercial, "UnAmerican Express," begins with a list of claims against the credit card giant that American Express denies. 

"Investigated by the U.S. government, caught processing a Soviet-era politician’s dirty money, paid hundreds of millions in fines for deceiving customers. Rather than clean up their act, American Express has gone woke," the narrator says. "Employees say people are promoted and told to offer lower premiums based on race, Amex administered critical race theory training that told employees capitalism is racist." 

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Consumers’ Research then calls for American Express to "serve customers, not woke politicians," the same mantra used in the Levi's ad. Consumers’ Research has partnered with New Tolerance Campaign and Color Us United, which launched a campaign last month designed to get credit card giant American Express to stop "racially divisive policies" that they feel are infiltrating many of the nation’s most prestigious companies. 

(Reuters)

"If American Express employees carried out the ideas suggested to them by the company, to treat customers differently based on race, they would violate a myriad of federal civil rights law and financial regulations against discrimination," Hild said.

Last year, the Manhattan Institute's Christopher Rufo began a series of investigative reporting on critical race theory at America’s most prominent companies.

"What I've discovered is that about a third of the Fortune 100 companies that I can verify are promoting the principles of CRT, including systemic racism, White privilege, this idea that whiteness is synonymous with evil, exploitation and oppression. And one of the companies that actually was the one of the worst offenders was American Express," Rufo previously told Fox News Digital. 

"American Express is teaching its employees that the country was fundamentally racist, that capitalism was fundamentally oppressive and that their White employees were guilty of White privilege and internalized White supremacy. All of these horrific crimes based solely on their skin color," Rufo added. 

However, American Express insists the Consumers’ Research ad and other claims about the company are false. 

"The ad and other recent related allegations make sensational claims about our company that simply aren’t true. American Express has a longstanding commitment to living our company values, which include fostering a diverse and inclusive culture where all colleagues can thrive. Advancement, hiring, and compensation within our company is based solely on individual qualifications, business, and leadership performance. Any claim to the contrary is wrong, and we do not provide any incentive for behaviors that discriminate against or favor any group of employees," an American Express spokesperson told Fox News Digital. 

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"Our diversity and inclusion programs are not based on any specific theory or philosophy, and we have never taught our colleagues that capitalism is racist. We price our products without regard to demographic information, including race and ethnicity, as legally required," the spokesperson continued. "We remain committed to upholding our values and ensuring that colleagues of all backgrounds and perspectives are respected, valued, and welcomed at American Express." 

Fox News’ Andrew Kugle contributed and Fox Business' Breck Dumas to this report.