Shooting Your Brand in the Foot

Pursuant to the Supreme Court’s decision in Citizens United v. FEC (2010), corporations have a new ability to spend money in American elections. But is it a good idea for public facing or publicly traded firms to spend in politics? In a forthcoming law review article, “Shooting Your Brand in the Foot: What Citizens United Invites” Associate Professor of Law Ciara Torres-Spelliscy argues that corporate political spending could harm a firm’s brand and expose the firm to reputational risks. The American electorate is increasingly polarized. Technologists have created smart phone applications to empower consumers to know more about a firm’s political spending history. Thus a politically polarized electorate may bring their partisanship to the shopping mall or to the stock market and take it out on firms that support the opposing political party.