Walgreens shares fall after response to ‘Woke’ ad

Walgreens Boots Alliance, the parent company of British retailer Boots, has seen its shares fall during a turbulent week after facing backlash over its supposedly ‘woke’ Christmas advert.

The stock closed at $8.48 on Friday, down 3.75 percent from Thursday, continuing a broader downtrend. Shares of Walgreens-Boots have fallen 66 percent in the past year and are at their lowest level since 1996.

Last week, Boots sparked conservative ire after releasing its Christmas commercial starring actor Adjoa Andoh as Mrs. Claus and a scene referencing gender-inclusive pronouns, in which Mrs. Claus uses they/their pronouns when referring to a gift recipient.

Newsweek has contacted Walgreens-Boots Alliance via email for comment.

Andoh was the subject of criticism in 2023, when she said King Charles III‘s coronation ceremony was “terribly white.” She made the comments during British channel ITV’s coverage of the coronation.

Broadcasting regulator Ofcom received more than 8,000 complaints about the comment but decided to take no action.

Following Andoh’s inclusion in the Boots advert, many online critics have accused the company of promoting “woke” values ​​and vowed to boycott the brand at Christmas.

Darren Grimes, a presenter for the conservative British television channel GB News, previously posted on X Tweet“Look at the Boots share price since their Christmas advert came out with the ‘terrible white’ race-challenging actress. People power.” The post was viewed 631,000 times on Sunday morning.

Another user @InevitableWest, a self-described “Defender of Western Values ​​and Culture” who has 61,800 followers on the site, also drew a connection between the ad and the stock price.

In a post from Friday The post was viewed 2.6 million times as of Sunday morning.

Although the decline coincides with the setback, the stock has been declining in value for several years.

In October, Walgreens announced plans to do so approximately 1,200 stores closed in the US over the next three years in an effort to make up for the $3 billion loss the country recorded in its last quarterly report.

No direct link between the ad and Walgreens-Boots stock price has been confirmed.

The calls for Boots to leave this Christmas echo previous conservative boycotts of US brands, where ‘Go Woke, Go Broke’ was a common rallying cry.

These include the controversial reaction in return for Button Light in 2023 after the beer brand collaborated with a transgender influencer Dylan Mulvaney. Bud Light sales felland its parent company, Anheuser-Busch InBevsaw A decline in share value.

Conservative influencers have continued to put this pressure on other companies, with recent boycotts being targeted Dunkin’ Donuts, Harley DavidsonAnd Tractor offer for their apparent support of progressive causes.