The open letter signed by 60 CEOs of Minnesota-based companies is a rare example of the C-suite venturing out onto a political limb in these highly polarized times.
But the note’s effort to walk a very fine line ultimately may not reward these brands for their bravery.
The missive, issued on Jan. 25 by the Minnesota Chamber of Commerce, came on the heels of an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officer fatally shooting Alex Pretti, a legal observer at a protest against the agency’s tactics in pursuing “criminal illegal aliens,” as President Trump has termed them. Pretti’s death followed the Jan. 7 killing of 37-year-old Renée Good, who was also at an anti-ICE protest when she was shot by an ICE agent.
While it’s unclear why these chief executives chose this moment to speak publicly, it appears that the shooting of Pretti was finally a step too far, one demanding a response even at a time when companies can pay a price for taking political stances—on the left or the right.
“With yesterday’s tragic news, we are calling for an immediate deescalation of tensions and for state, local and federal officials to work together to find real solutions,” read the open letter, whose signatories included the CEOs of companies including Best Buy, Cargill, Ecolab, General Mills, Hormel, and Target.
ADWEEK received no replies to its request for comment to all of these brands.
ICE began its Operation Metro Surge—a campaign to “remove the worst of the worst from Minneapolis Streets”—in December. The agency stated on Jan. 19 that it had “arrested over 10,000 criminal illegal aliens who were killing Americans, hurting children, and reigning terror.”
But the fact that the two American citizens killed by ICE agents were 1. a poet and mother of three and 2. a nurse from a VA hospital has invited scrutiny of that mission, pushing Minnesota (and, by association, the companies headquartered there) into the spotlight.
While the letter signaled the corporate signatories’ willingness to wade into a tense public debate, their statement was fairly anodyne—and made via safety of numbers.
“Based on the general and neutral content of the letter, the retailers involved have a fairly low risk of blowback as they are not taking a specific side but are instead asking for collaboration,” retail analyst Bruce Winder told ADWEEK. “They are careful to mention all levels of government and because they are part of a much larger group of companies who are signing, they will not be singled out.”
Winder added: “In fact, if they did not participate, they would have looked bad.”
