“If It’s Goya, It Has To Be Good”?

Cancel Culture is becoming more effective because our modern society is being morally

aware. With all this social media invention, people are more confident to speak on topics they

were even banned or afraid to express. It’s becoming more noticeable the importance of ensuring

people are being respectful and not harmful with their comments and actions. As part of this

change in the relationship between consumers and companies, in the last couple of years, we

have seen an increase in movements to penalize or boycott a company or one of its

representatives by expressing or doing an action that is considered offensive. Actions that can be

seen as either good or bad could impact the perception of the consumers towards a certain

company. Especially those actions that are deemed bad or offensive towards a certain person or

group. With the use of social media by more and more people, consumers are more aware and

informed on actions and decisions by companies.

A company that received backlash and a cancel culture movement was created against it

was Goya. This happened during the presidency of Donald Trump when Goya’s CEO, Robert

Unanue, praised Trump’s administration. This action was not approved by US Latino groups,

who represented a minority that was mistreated during the administration. After this happened,

people started “cancel culture” movements asking consumers not to purchase Goya’s products.

However, according to The New York Post (Marte, 2020) representatives of the Bodega and

Small Business Association as they request “We are calling for a Goya buycott.” Referring that

sales and jobs could be affected by the boycotts and also promoting to stock up every bodega with

Goya’s products. They mentioned that even though the boycotts were successful it would cause

more harm to the economy than Trump’s behavior.

 According to an article in NBC News (Atkinson, 2020) after Unanue’s support to

Trump’s administration, the company received $47M in negative marketing vs $10M in positive

marketing. However, is difficult to determine what was the impact on the company’s sales after

this incident. The same article mentioned that although some of Goya’s competitors are seeing

an increase in the sales of their products, Goya itself has reported an increase in some of their

products, but that these increases can be attributed to the impact of the Covid pandemic and the

change in some consumers buying patterns. This is, because, on one hand, some consumers are

moving away from eating meat and getting their proteins from other products like beans, a

segment that Goya has a presence in. On the other hand, due to the pandemic, consumers are

bulking up on groceries to avoid having to take many trips to the supermarket.

Cancel culture movements bring new challenges to companies and their executives. They

have to be aware of how their actions are perceived by the consumers and how they could affect

the company. These movements can also affect public figures, like athletes, politicians, actors, to

mention some. Is cancel culture an important tool of social justice or a new form of merciless

mob intimidation? If canceling someone usually doesn’t have much measurable effect, does

cancel culture even exist? Or does the very idea of being canceled work to deter potentially bad

behavior? (Romano, 2020). The thing is that they too need to be aware of how their actions are

perceived by the public and how it will affect their reputation and image.
References

“History: Our Story,” (n.d.). Goya.Com. Retrieved January 22, 2022, from
https://www.goya.com/en/our-company/history
Marte, F. (2020, July 15). “Why Hispanic Business Owners Are Urging You to BUY-cott Goya
Products.” Nypost.Com. https://nypost.com/2020/07/15/why-hispanic-business-owners-are-
urging-you-to-buy-cott-goya-products/
Romano, A. (2019, December 30). Why we can’t stop fighting about cancel culture. Vox.Com.
https://www.vox.com/culture/2019/12/30/20879720/what-is-cancel-culture-explained-history-
debate
NBC News (Atkinson, Claire (2020). After Trump doubled down on Goya, has it helped boost —
or tank — sales of the Hispanic brand? https://www.nbcnews.com/business/consumer/after-
trump-doubled-down-goya-has-it-helped-boost-or-n1234743),