Should Franchisors Publicly Endorse Candidates?

The trouble had started when the Star Tribune ran a story about a donation that Natural Foods, a midsized Minneapolis-based chain of organic grocery stores, had made to a super Political Action Committee called Minnesota Business First. According to a Harvard Business Review’s case study, the company had chosen to support the group because of its plan to fund ads promoting political candidates who had strong pro-business platforms in the upcoming elections.

In a last-minute push to court conservative voters in a tight race, one of those candidates, Pat Erikson, a rising star in the Minnesota Republican Party, had taken a strong stance against gay marriage, saying that he’d vote against any bill to legalize it. Much to the dismay of Natural Foods’ CEO, Harold Leeson, the company was now equated with that positon, and customer protests outside of the company’s stores quickly followed. Leeson never anticipated just how big the ramifications would be for Natural Foods.

The case study aimed to show that endorsing a political candidate isn’t always easy for a business. While there’s always potential for backlash to your company or personal brand, publicly supporting issues, political parties or candidates can also do a lot of good when you support worthy causes—but it’s always best to tread lightly. David E. Johnson, CEO and founder of Strategic Vision, an Atlanta-based public affairs and public relations agency, has seen all of this firsthand—Johnson’s company specializes in analyzing elections and providing insight on voting trends and demographics.

“Before supporting a candidate, know who the players are, know what the consequences are and make sure that you know what you’re getting involved in,” Johnson said in an interview with Entrepreneur Magazine. “These races and candidates can really affect you and help you.”

When committing to a hot-button topic or a political party, it’s important to first focus on the issues. Putting your money and influence behind ideas rather than publicly supporting political parties is less risky and can minimize damage to your brand. Because there’s always a mixed bag of topics and fluctuating stances in any campaign, it’s best to pick an issue based on what’s important to your business. Choosing policies that join people together rather than polarizing issues that can tear them apart minimizes potential damage to your company.

When deciding on an issue to support, it’s also important to be informed. Even if you think you know a lot about something, it’s critical you become an expert before publicly supporting an idea or candidate. Being well-educated about the issues is the best line of defense when protecting your business against potential risks.

Johnson encourages companies thinking about endorsing a candidate to know their employees, vendors and clients before making any politically-charged decisions. “Don’t just do it, because there can be consequences from employee dissatisfaction and lost clients,” he said.

For example, if your customer base is liberal, supporting a conservative cause could be costly. Posting articles about opposing ideas to your company’s Facebook or Twitter account and watching the feedback and fodder trickle in can give you a good sense of whether your customers lean more towards the left or the right.