In recent years, corporate America’s aggressive embrace of transgender ideology—pushing it into branding, marketing campaigns, and organizational culture—has met a growing backlash. One prominent example is KMD Brands, the parent company of Rip Curl and Kathmandu, which is now facing significant financial consequences after aligning too closely with the woke agenda. Their latest loss—$82.9 million, the worst in a decade—serves as a stark reminder: when companies force ideology on consumers, consumers often fight back.
Rip Curl made headlines when it dropped beloved surfing icon Bethany Hamilton—who lost an arm in a shark attack and has voiced support for women’s sports categories—after she expressed dissent. The brand then tapped a transgender male surfer, Sasha Lowerson, as its “female ambassador,” provoking fierce public outrage. Australian surfers reportedly burned Rip Curl products in protest, and many circulated boycotts.
KMD’s leadership continues to deflect blame onto macroeconomic conditions, calling 2024–2025 a “transition year.” But the timing of their operational losses suggests that consumer resistance to forced corporate wokeness played a crucial role. Despite claims of external pressures, the underlying cause appears to be self-inflicted: businesses treating ideology as strategic branding rather than staying true to their core values and what customers actually want.
This episode is more than just a company losing money. It illustrates a broader shift in the marketplace: Americans are no longer tolerating moral posturing or silence when their values are challenged. We’re seeing increasing scrutiny of how brands operate, from what they promote to how they handle dissent. And in this case, consumers showed that they still wield real economic power.
The lesson for corporations is clear: if your strategy is to shove ideology down your audience’s throat, don’t be surprised when they stop buying. In this moment of pushback, conservative values around free expression, individual conscience, and accountability are showing strength. The question now is whether other companies will take note—or face the same reckoning.