Southwest Airlines has joined several brands, including Bud Light, Target, and PetSmart, being targeted for “wokeness.”
The Southwoke website features photoshopped images of Southwest Airlines CEO Robert Jordan and Board of Directors members David Biegler, Nancy Loefler, Gary Kelly, and Veronica Biggins dressed in drag attire and wearing wild-looking hairstyles.
Southwest filed a complaint on April 4 against the website and requested that the Southwoke domain be turned over to Southwest Airlines.
“We filed a complaint against the internet domain, but the website registrant hasn’t responded or identified themself,” Southwest Airlines spokesperson Chris Mainz told The Epoch Times in an email. “Ultimately, an arbitrator found the site a parody that isn’t meant to be taken seriously.”
- The domain name is “identical or confusingly similar to a trademark or service mark,” to which Southwest Airlines has rights.
- The domain owner “has no rights or legitimate interests in respect of the domain name.”
- “The domain name has been registered and is being used in bad faith.”
“Having not established all three elements required under the ICANN Policy, the Panel concludes that relief shall be denied,” the panelist wrote in his findings.
No one has come forward claiming responsibility for “Southwoke.com.” The domain is registered at Tucows Domains; however, information about the owner of Southwoke has been “redacted for privacy.” The information shows that the website was created on March 6, 2023.
The airline said it disagrees with the decision and is looking into other legal options against the website.
“We do not agree,” Mainz continued. “The expressions on this site do not align with what we stand for as a company, and the content includes hurtful images and language, all represented as our brand. We continue to explore legal remedies and are working to minimize awareness of the sensational and hurtful content.”
The Southwoke website features blog posts with titles such as “Southwoke Hires fabulous Sam Brinton as Our New Baggage Czar” and “Southwest Airlines Celebrates Canceled Flights as a Win for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion,” among others.
There’s a page titled “A Message From Our CEO.”
“Here at Southwoke, we’re fully committed to DEI, ESG, Allyship, #MeToo, and every other trendy woke acronym or hashtag you can think of. In fact, we’re so committed that we want to import those same values from other woke meccas like San Francisco and Portland to right here, deep in the heart of Texas—the stolen lands of the Caddo, Wichita, and Comanche people,” the message from “Bob Jordan” reads, whose listed pronouns are “He/Him/Two Spirit.”
Billboards Near Fort Worth
In late March, a “Southwoke” billboard appeared along Interstate 35 near Fort Worth.“Bringing San Francisco’s baggage to Texas non-stop,” the billboard states. The same Southwest officials shown on the home page of the fake website are displayed on the billboard.
Another billboard popped up earlier this month along the same highway south of Fort Worth.
The second billboard’s artwork shows a man wearing makeup, a feather boa, and purple hair.
The slogan reads, “Either Way We’ll Drag You on Board” in large purple letters except for the word Drag, which is hot pink, matching the feather boa on the man. The text beneath the slogan is the website name, Southwoke.com, along with a heart logo in pride colors.
“Keep up the woke, we’ll keep up the billboards,” declares the message across the bottom of the billboard.
Consumers Boycott Woke Companies
Target has faced declining sales and stock shares since it launched its Pride collection for children last month. Parents and anti-woke advocates blasted the company calling consumers to boycott the massive retailer.On May 24, the company announced it would be removing some of the items, citing threats against employees despite its decade-long practice of “offering an assortment of products aimed at celebrating Pride Month.”
“Our focus is now on moving forward with our continuing commitment to the LGBTQIA+ community and standing with them as we celebrate Pride Month and throughout the year,” the company said.
Bud Light has not been able to shake its marketing failure involving transgender influencer Dylan Mulvaney. The brand owned by Anheuser Busch produced a Bud Light beer can featuring Mulvaney’s face, which sent the company on a downward spiral it has yet to recover from.
Fast-food company Chick-fil-A has also come under fire after the company was discovered to have a vice president of “diversity, equity, and inclusion.”