As big corporations grapple with how to respond to the Israel-Hamas war, firms that have avoided woke stances are seeing an influx of business – and some of their new shoppers are Democrats.
PublicSq. – a shopping website and app that requires listed businesses to commit to values like “freedom,” “family,” and “the Constitution” – has seen its traffic triple since the attacks on Israel a month ago, its president, Michael Seifert, told On The Money.
About 25% of the new users are registered Democrats, according to the company’s internal research.
Seifert points to the fact that numerous chapters of Black Lives Matter – which got millions in corporate donations over the last few years – have come out in support of Hamas.
Meanwhile, companies like Starbucks and Apple have stayed quiet about the attack.
“Anytime there’s international turmoil, we see people prioritizing supporting local business,” Seifert adds. “But now we see a concerted effort to avoid businesses that have jumped on every political cause except supporting Israel.”
PublisSq. saw an initial surge of business after some shoppers objected to Target’s Pride month display and after a failed advertising campaign to have transgender influencer Dylan Mulvaney promote Bud Light.
But it’s the past month that’s really served as a wake-up call and nudged people to re-evaluate where they’re putting their cash, according to Seifert.
“We’ve seen a tremendous uptick as consumers are more aware of the need to support small and domestic businesses – and are more aware than ever that the corporate donations are rooted in fake virtue signaling,” Seifert said.
Seifert said this is a “stark” reminder that many corporations are actively opposing their beliefs and that shoppers want a “parallel economy” of companies that are aligned with their values.
“I’m tired of all the political noise,” one user who recently signed up said. “I want to escape it.”
To be approved for the platform, companies must promise to respect PublicSq.’s “pro-America” values — and promise that they won’t “spend time, money, or resources antagonistically against those values,” according to a company presentation reviewed by The Post.
Users with an account can search the app for businesses in categories like banks, beauty, and jewelry. Customers can filter results to find a small business in their community or broaden the search to the entire country — but they’ll know all the companies they look for are operated by businesses that are “pro-life, pro-family, and pro-freedom.,” Seifert said.
That’s because each company is reviewed by a “vetting team” that ensures companies are publicly abiding by those values, according to Seifert.
PublicSq., which can be accessed online or by downloading the app, is free for both users and businesses and makes money selling ads.
Seifert told The Post he believes focusing on the estimated 100 million conservatives in the US — who are looking for alternatives to buying from companies that support a progressive agenda — will be big business.
According to a study from 5W PR, 71% of Americans want to buy from companies that align with their values — and Seifert says that means there are tens of millions of underserved conservatives who are looking to support businesses they can believe in.
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