Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade Shuns Boycott Demands from Hate Group
An anti-LGBTQ group is organizing a boycott of the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade over performances by non-binary Broadway actors, in the latest effort to force companies to change course on social issues that some far-right groups see as too liberal.
The parade’s response: March on.
Similar campaigns have led brands like Budweiser and Target to give in to activists’ demands. But the parade has long had close ties to Broadway, one of the most LGBTQ-friendly industries in the city.
The group, called One Million Moms, says it has collected about 33,000 signatures in support of the boycott. But it appears to have overplayed its hand, says Scott Galloway, professor of marketing at New York University’s Stern School of Business.
“I think this is the easiest ‘no’ in the history of Macy’s,” Mr. Galloway said. The protesters “have vastly overestimated their influence here.”
One Million Moms is protesting the inclusion of two non-binary actors: Alex Newell, the Tony Award-winning performer who plays Lulu in “Shucked,” and Justin David Sullivan, who plays May in the musical “& Juliet.” Both will likely take part in musical acts at the event, along with hundreds of other performers from Broadway and elsewhere.
Macy’s declined to comment on the petition but reaffirmed its plans to continue business as usual.
“We look forward to celebrating this iconic Thanksgiving tradition again next week,” a spokeswoman said in a statement.
The shows’ actors and producers declined to comment. NBC, the network that will air the show, also declined to comment.
This isn’t the first year a gender-nonconforming artist has appeared in the parade. Kim Petras, a transgender German pop singer, performed in 2021. In 2018, the two leading women from the musical “The Prom” shared a kiss during a song-and-dance number.
Monica Cole, the director of One Million Moms, said in a statement that the goal of the campaign was to force Macy’s to “stop pushing the LGBTQ agenda” or exposing viewers to “liberal nonsense.”
The group, based in Tupelo, Miss., is part of the American Family Association, a conservative Christian organization with a long history of protest media projects, including a campaign to boycott the movie “Barbie” because it featured a transgender actor. The Southern Poverty Law Center, a nonprofit legal advocacy group, has labeled the organization a hate group.
The parade, which is in its 97th year, has included Broadway productions for more than 50 years and is known for its rotating cast of towering cartoon balloons and floats. Last year, the show was watched by 27 million viewers on NBC and the streaming platform Peacock. According to a spokeswoman, it was also the most watched entertainment program of the year.
But even in a progressive city like New York, companies can be cautious in their response to conservative protests, says Jed Bernstein, an adjunct professor at NYU Stern and former president of the Broadway League, the trade association.
“Brands are well aware that storm clouds can gather very quickly,” he said, citing the power and reach of social media.
For large companies, there is a complicated math involved in trying not to alienate consumers. “Responding carries risk, not responding carries risk,” he said of the petition. And once a company supports an issue, the company is expected to defend its position in the future.
“A lot of these fringe groups are drunk on power,” Mr. Galloway said, after Bud Light was dethroned as the country’s top-selling beer due to a boycott over the brand’s partnership with a transgender influencer named Dylan Mulvaney.
But the circumstances of the parade protest are very different. First, Macy’s customers tend to live in urban, less conservative markets, he said.
“If I were to advise Macy’s,” Mr. Galloway said, “it’s an opportunity for them to say this: Judge me by my enemies.”