Consumers’ Research is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that claims to advance “greater consumer knowledge and freedom.” In reality, the group is a leader in the right-wing anti-ESG campaign against “woke capitalism,” spending millions of dollars to publicly shame Fortune 500 CEOs and pressure firms against taking a stand on social justice and political issues.
• Originally founded in 1929, but came into its current form in the late 2010s with funding from the Bradley Foundation and Leonard Leo’s dark money network
• Is now a leading right-wing force behind anti-ESG and anti-“woke” initiatives targeting corporations
• Has received millions since 2019 from DonorsTrust, a dark money organization closely tied to Leonard Leo’s dark money network
• Will Hild, Executive Director
• Beau Brunson, Director of Policy and Regulatory Affairs
• Tom Miller, Senior Research Fellow
Consumers’ Research was founded in 1929 with a mission to test consumer products and publish their results in a newsletter. In 1935, the group’s workers unionized, and in a split with management, they incorporated a separate entity that branched off from Consumers’ Research called Consumers Union. Consumers Union went on to publish what is now known as Consumer Reports. From its inception, Consumers’ Research had conservative leanings — the founder “suspected labor unions of Communist leanings,” “refused to recognize the rights of workers to unionize,” and was “completely paranoid about Communism” — but took a hard turn to the right in the early 1980s when M. Stanton Evans stepped in to lead the organization.
Stanton Evans ended the group’s practice of product testing and pivoted into advocacy-oriented activities like promoting the tobacco industry, even working to undermine the science of secondhand smoke.
By the early 2000s, the organization’s revenue had dwindled and eventually hit zero. From 2007 to 2013, the organization reported no revenue. Then, in 2013, the organization was revitalized with large grants from the Bradley Foundation. An analysis of leaked emails found that half of a $500,000 grant to the organization from the Bradley Foundation came from Barre Seid, the conservative megadonor behind a $1.6 billion donation to the Leonard Leo-controlled nonprofit Marble Freedom Trust. From 2019 to 2022, Consumers’ Research’s revenue ballooned from just over $484,000 to over $10.4 million. The explosion in funding can be traced to giving from DonorsTrust, a conservative donor-advised fund that has been called the “dark money ATM of the right,” and an organization closely associated with Leonard Leo. In 2021, the Leo-controlled Marble Freedom Trust issued a $41 million grant to DonorsTrust.
Will Hild has served as executive director of Consumers’ Research (CR) since 2020. Prior to leading CR, Hild worked as the deputy director of the Federalist Society’s regulatory transparency project and at the Philanthropy Roundtable as the director of external affairs for the Culture of Freedom Initiative.
In his time at CR, Hild has led a campaign against corporate “wokeness” with a particular focus on anti-environmental, social, and corporate governance (ESG) efforts. The campaign has featured both paid and earned media. Hild regularly speaks at conservative events and with the media about CR’s anti-ESG efforts.
Beau Brunson has been the policy director at Consumers’ Research since June 2017. Prior to joining CR, Brunson was a Congressional staffer, first as an intern for Rep. John Carter and eventually as deputy chief of staff for Rep. David Schweikert (R-AZ).
Tom Miller is a senior research fellow at Consumers’ Research and a professor of finance at Mississippi State University. Miller holds a Ph.D. in finance from the University of Washington as well as bachelor’s and master’s degrees in economics from the University of Montana.
Miller has written extensively in support of the payday loan industry, which is widely seen as predatory, with a goal of trapping individuals into a cycle of debt.
Consumers’ Research has invested millions of dollars in advertising that directly attacks private companies for so-called “woke capitalism.” The ads are styled as campaign attack ads, complete with ominous voice-overs, grainy photos, and opposition research. The ads often frame “wokeness” as a way for companies to distract from poor performance, high CEO pay, or financial connections to China.
The ads came as Republicans started to openly attack businesses with so-called “woke” policies. In some cases, Consumers’ Research ads echoed exact talking points used by Republican campaigns. Following the 2022 midterms, Republicans in the House continued their attacks, even going after the Pentagon for policies to make military service more inclusive. The following are examples of campaigns Consumers’ Research has run against American corporations:
They attacked American Airlines after its CEO spoke out against a restrictive voter ID law in Texas.
BlackRock has been on the receiving end of an aggressive attack launched by Consumers’ Research. In several ads across TV, radio, and digital, CR attacked BlackRock over the firm’s use of ESG investing strategies. CR reportedly spent $4 million on an ad campaign that directly targeted BlackRock CEO Larry Fink. CR also published two websites targeting BlackRock; one was a landing page featuring a graphic of Larry Fink with Chinese President Xí Jìnpíng and Russian President Vladimir Putin, while the second issued a “warning” about BlackRock and featured CR’s digital and TV ads.
Consumers’ Research’s attacks on BlackRock and Larry Fink invoked an ominous future of high energy prices, an emboldened China, and a less free America. On Twitter, CR executive director Will Hild framed BlackRock and Larry Fink as members of a “cabal of global elites,” as a “cabal of woke activists,” and as “globalist stakeholders.” Both the terms “cabal” and “globalist” and the portrayal of elite bankers being anti-American globalists have deep antisemitic roots.
The words cabal and globalist are featured in the American Jewish Committee’s Hate Glossary.
The Washington Post noted CR’s deployment of antisemitism in a 2023 profile of the group: “It’s a familiar playbook, similar to the one the right uses against progressive billionaires George Soros and Mike Bloomberg: Elitist globalists expand their power by taking away your freedom. Like Fink, those two men are Jewish.” CR Executive Director Will Hild denied that the campaign was antisemitic, saying his wife and children were Jewish.
Additional examples of Hild’s antisemitic framing include:
In addition to Hild’s tweets, Hild has vocally praised former Fox News host Tucker Carlson, who “embraced” extreme white supremacist views and enjoyed a “symbiotic relationship with the
far-right.” Hild said Carlson “helped shine a light on a myriad of important issues, including the ESG scam.” And Hild even suggested that Larry Fink was behind Carlson’s firing, tying it to Fink’s efforts to “push his progressive ESG agenda.”
Hild announced an upcoming Consumers’ Research campaign targeting Bank of America based on their attacks on BlackRock. Hild said the campaign against BofA would not be a “one-off hit.” Bloomberg Law reported that the campaign would involve “ads on cable news networks pressing the issue, and drive mobile billboards around Bank of America’s headquarters in Charlotte, North Carolina, its offices in midtown Manhattan and some of its busiest branches in states from Arizona to Florida.”
In April 2023, Consumers’ Research launched a texting program to alert users to so-called “woke capitalism.” The “woke alerts” program employed political campaign-style tactics to drive messaging and engagement. CR reportedly put over $100,000 into the campaign. The alerts focus on culture war issues, including opposition to corporate diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts, and have echoed far-right warnings against the indoctrination of children. Examples of corporate “woke alerts” include:
In direct opposition to its stated mission to “increase the knowledge and understanding of issues, policies, products, and services of concern to consumers…” Consumers’ Research has a history of promoting the interests of businesses and against the health and safety of consumers. Examples of pro-business positions include:
In 2022, Consumers’ Research sued the FCC over a FCC Universal Service Contribution order, claiming the communications act unconstitutionally delegated “legislative and/or taxing authority” to the agency. CR’s lawsuit was an attempt to eliminate the Universal Service Fund and the Universal Service Administrative Company, the agency that oversees the USF. The Universal Service Fund is paid into by telecommunications companies and redistributed through four programs that target rural high cost areas, schools, libraries, and rural health care.
The case was heard by the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals, a deeply conservative court with 12 of 17 judges named by Republican presidents. The Fifth Circuit ruled against CR, disagreeing with its claim that the FCC had inappropriately delegated taxing authority to a nonprofit corporation. The Court wrote that “federal statutory law expressly subordinates USAC to the FCC…(providing that USAC ‘may not make policy, interpret unclear provisions of the statute or rules, or interpret the intent of Congress’).”
In 2021, Consumers’ Research received nearly $6 million from DonorsTrust, an influential right-wing donor group dubbed the “dark money atm of the right.” This DonorsTrust donation accounted for roughly 75% of CR’s funding in 2021. The following year, DonorsTrust increased its giving to Consumers’ Research, giving them over $9 million, accounting for over 86% of CR’s funding in 2022.
| 2022 | 2021 | 2020 | 2019 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total Assets (Fair Market) | $2,731,806 | $798,683 | $353,908 | $368,672 |
| Net Assets (Fair Market) | $2,341,076 | $431,381 | $273,715 | $341,658 |
| Total Revenue | $10,423,274 | $8,022,567 | $835,306 | $484,745 |
| Total Expenses (Per Book) | $8,515,562 | $7,864,901 | $903,249 | $744,546 |
| 2022 | 2021 | 2020 | 2019 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| DonorsTrust Grants to Consumers' Research | $9,010,000.00 | $5,984,000 | $775,000 | $475,000 |
Grants
In 2021, Consumers’ Research granted $150,000 to the State Financial Officers Foundation, a national nonprofit organization dedicated to fighting so-called “woke capitalism,” increasing American oil and gas production, and attacking ESG efforts. In 2022, it increased that funding of the State Financial Officers Foundation to $317,000, and also gave to a number of other conservative causes, including the dark money Bradley Impact Fund.
CRC Advisors is a consulting and public relations firm led by Leonard Leo – deemed “arguably the most powerful figure in the federal justice system” – with influence across the conservative landscape. Originally called CRC Public Relations, the firm first gained mainstream prominence for its role in a smear campaign against John Kerry during the 2004 presidential election. The organization has played a key role in supporting Leo’s Supreme Court fights since the nomination of Justice Samuel Alito.
In 2020, Leonard Leo and his longtime associate, Greg Mueller, launched the rebranded CRC Advisors. Leo stepped down as executive vice president of the Federalist Society — though he retained the title co-chairman — to form the new CRC Advisors entity. Leo is best known for operating a “network of interlocking nonprofits” that aggressively support conservative judges and champion right-wing causes through “dark money” campaigns.
In addition to the professional ties between Consumers’ Research and CRC Advisors, Leo has spoken positively about CR to the press. In an interview with the Washington Post, Leo said: “Consumers’ Research and its leader Will Hild are executing the most impactful pushback I know against ESG and other aspects of woke corporate culture.” Consumers’ Research executive director Will Hild has also spoken favorably of Leo, calling him “a good friend and adviser to Consumers’ Research.”
Between 2013 and 2019, Consumers’ Research paid CRC Advisors over $600,000 for public relations work. In 2020, CR paid CRC Advisors nearly $113,000, followed by a whopping nearly $625,000 in 2021.
In October 2022, the New York Times reported that Leo said “the woke capitalism battle is a very high priority for me, and I am very excited about what Consumers’ Research is doing.” The Times went on to report that Consumers’ Research was “resuscitated a decade later as a Republican-aligned group working partly to topple federal environmental laws, using millions of dollars from donors with connections to Mr. Leo,” and that “about two months after” Leo’s Marble Freedom Trust processed a $1.6 billion contribution from right-wing megadonor Barre Seid, “Consumers’ Research began an anti-E.S.G. campaign on which it says it has spent nearly $10 million — more than it had spent in the previous seven years combined.”
Leo is also closely connected to the Concord Fund, a nonprofit that has played a significant role in the confirmation of conservative justices to the Supreme Court and gives millions to conservative causes. In 2022, the Concord Fund gave Consumers Defense, an arm of Consumers’ Research, $350,000. This funding came shortly before Consumers’ Research waged a campaign against Bud Light for its sponsorship of transgender activist and influencer Dylan Mulvaney.
Jones Day is one of the largest law firms in the United States, with thousands of attorneys and countless national and international offices. The firm made a name for itself by partnering with some of the worst corporate actors, including cigarette company RJ Reynolds, OxyContin manufacturer Purdue Pharma, gunmaker Smith & Wesson, and the National Rifle Association. Over the last decade, the firm has placed an increased focus on its political practice and now represents individuals and super PACs across the conservative spectrum, including: former President Trump’s 2016 and 2020 campaigns, Senator Susan Collins, Speaker Kevin McCarthy, Senator Ron Johnson, Senator Marsha Blackburn, the National Republican Campaign Committee, the Republican National Committee, and the Trump Victory PAC, among others.
In 2021, Consumers’ Research paid Jones Day nearly $1.7 million for “public relations.”
DonorsTrust is one of contemporary American politics’ most influential conservative donor-advised funds. In 2013, Mother Jones dubbed DonorsTrust the “dark-money ATM of the right.” Contributions to DonorsTrust in 2021 amounted to nearly $1.1 billion, the group’s largest annual intake of donations on record. The income included closely held common stock in a C-corporation with an end-of-year market value of more than $431 million. The following year, it still took in over $300 million.
Donors Trust funneled over $16.2 million to Consumers’ Research between 2019 and 2022, accounting for over 82% of the organization’s revenue in that time frame.
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