Organic supermarket chain Whole Foods is looking for some PR critical care as it faces a growing boycott after its CEO argued against health-care reform in the Wall St. Journal.
On Aug. 11, John Mackey wrote an opinion piece in the Wall Street Journal that presented a free market alternative to President Obama’s proposed health-care reforms.
He said reform is necessary, but “the last thing our country needs is a massive new health-care entitlement that will create hundreds of billions of dollars of new unfunded deficits and move us much closer to a government takeover of our health-care system.”
Former Whole Foods devotees responded to Mackey’s article by picketing outside the chain’s Washington D.C., Maryland, New York and Austin, Texas locations. Some protestors handed out fliers calling for Mackey’s resignation.
Representatives from the United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) labour union reportedly picketed outside the Washington store. Others have expressed their views on Twitter and Facebook, calling on shoppers to shun the store.
A “Boycott Whole Foods” Facebook group currently has over 28,000 members, and over 2,000 wall posts. The page contains links to various news sites and a boycott blog and on Tuesday, CtW Investment Group–which works with pension funds sponsored by unions affiliated with union federation Change to Win–called on Whole Foods to replace Mackey as chair. Citing the risk to Whole Foods’ brand reputation caused by Mackey’s column, CtW called for “immediate action to prevent continued damage in the face of a quickly-growing boycott by Whole Foods’ progressive customer base.”
“Mr. Mackey attempted to capitalize on the brand reputation of Whole Foods to champion his personal political views, but has instead deeply offended a key segment of Whole Foods consumer base,” said CtW Investment Group executive director Bill Patterson, in a release.
“This is not the first time Mr. Mackey’s unsanctioned communications have damaged Whole Foods’ image with consumers and investors. At a time when shareholders are looking for Whole Foods’ management to focus on improving operations in an uncertain economy, we cannot afford the risk to our company’s brand reputation caused by Mr. Mackey’s indiscretion. He has become a liability and the board should begin the process of identifying a suitable replacement.”
Responding to the controversy in his Whole Foods blog, Mackey claims he titled the piece “Health Care Reform,” which was changed to “Whole Foods Alternative to Obamacare,” by an editor at the Journal.
This led to “antagonistic feelings by many. That was not my intention–in fact, I do not mention the President at all in this piece,” he wrote.
Also included in the entry is the full, unedited version of his WSJ column. Mackey invites readers to leave comments but lightheartedly reminds them that the comment guidelines “prohibit vulgarity and personal attacks.”
In his blog, Mackey made it clear Whole Foods took no position on the health-care legislation.
