ColorOfChange.org used a radio flight to try to get Johnson & Johnson to cease contributions to American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC). J&J did withdraw funding, to the applause of COC.
According to COC, the policies pushed by ALEC are harmful to African Americans, including “…voter suppression bills and so-called Stand your Ground laws.”
“As Americans learn more about ALEC’s extreme agenda, companies understand that their brands suffer through association with a group that has weakened our democracy and made it harder to earn a living wage,” said ColorOfChange Executive Director Rashad Robinson. “The ColorOfChange community commends Johnson & Johnson for acting in the best interest of consumers and cutting ties with this shadowy organization.”
The activist group ran radio ads targeting the African-American communities in Chicago, DC, New Brunswick, NJ, and Sanford, FL.
COC began targeting ALEC in December 2011. “With today’s announcement,” COC stated, “the company becomes the 19th to announce it has dropped ALEC. Johnson & Johnson joins Wal-Mart, Amazon, Procter & Gamble, Yum! Brands, McDonald’s, Wendy’s, Mars Inc., Coca-Cola, PepsiCo, Kraft Foods, Intuit, Blue Cross Blue Shield Association, Reed Elsevier (owner of LexisNexis and publisher of science and health information), Kaplan, Scantron, Medtronic, American Traffic Solutions and Arizona Public Service.”
