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Woke Company Report

Hershey – Woke Company Report

D83/100 higher is better · Capped at 83 by a serious finding
Originally published October 20, 2026
The Hershey chocolate factory and its two smokestacks lettered Hershey, in Hershey, Pennsylvania, in 1976
Photo: Hershey chocolate factory, Hershey, Pennsylvania, 1976. Antarctic96, CC BY-SA 3.0, cropped, via Wikimedia Commons.

Full report

Hershey is graded D because of one MAJOR item: Hershey Canada's March 2023 International Women's Day 'HER for SHE' campaign featured Fae Johnstone, a transgender activist. In response to calls to boycott Hershey (CBC, Mar 2, 2023), The Hershey Company issued this statement: 'We value togetherness and recognize the strength created by diversity. Over the past three years, our Women's History Month programming has been an inclusive celebration of women and their impact. We appreciate the countless people and meaningful partnerships behind these efforts.' Without the cap, its score would be 90, a B.

A serious (MAJOR) finding caps the score at 83, a D. Without the cap, Hershey would score 90 (100 minus its 10 points). See How We Rate.

Points deducted by category

  1. DEI hiring, pay & suppliers: 5/15 points deducted
    • 10-K human-capital section on inclusion (incl. disability inclusion; 100 on the Disability Equality Index). (source)
    • In June 2021, Hershey announced 2025 diversity targets under its "Pathways" inclusion strategy: to increase representation so that "30 to 40 percent" of its U.S. employees "are POC" (people of color), and an aspiration "to have 15 to 22 percent of People Leader roles occupied by POC." (source)
  2. Internal policies & benefits: 0/10 points deducted
  3. Free speech, debanking, deplatforming & anti-military/anti-American conduct: 0/15 points deducted
  4. Political giving (PAC, treasury, leadership): 0/10 points deducted
  5. Advocacy, lobbying & public statements: 0/15 points deducted
  6. Marketing, products & content: 12/10 points deducted (cap 10; MAJOR items are not limited by the cap)
    • Hershey Canada's International Women's Day "HER for SHE" limited-edition bars (CNW release, Feb 28, 2023; launched Mar 1, 2023) featured Fae Johnstone, a transgender activist (CBC, Mar 2, 2023); the release calls her a "2SLGBTQIA+ Advocate." In response to calls to boycott Hershey (CBC, Mar 2, 2023), The Hershey Company issued this statement: "We value togetherness and recognize the strength created by diversity. Over the past three years, our Women's History Month programming has been an inclusive celebration of women and their impact. We appreciate the countless people and meaningful partnerships behind these efforts." CBC: https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/hershey-fae-johnstone-transgender-1.6765214 (source)
  7. Charitable & activist funding: 0/10 points deducted
  8. ESG, activist investing & industry/regional boycotts: 0/10 points deducted
  9. China & foreign-adversary ties: 0/5 points deducted
  10. Election & voting-law activism: 0/10 points deducted
  11. Border & immigration enforcement: 0/10 points deducted
  12. Faith, family & children: 0/10 points deducted
  13. Climate & anti-fossil-fuel advocacy: 0.5/10 points deducted
    • Hershey release (June 18, 2024): "Hershey Updates Science-Based Targets as It Advances Efforts to Reduce Greenhouse Gas Emissions" (SBTi-approved 2030 targets vs a 2018 baseline). (source)
  14. Second Amendment & lawful-firearms commerce: 0/10 points deducted
  15. Government-coordinated content moderation: 0/10 points deducted
  16. Abortion advocacy, benefits & funding: 0/10 points deducted
  17. American Workers & H-1B Displacement: 0/10 points deducted

Final verdict: Grade D

Grades run A (best) to F (worst) on a 0–100 scale, where a higher score is better: every company starts at 100 and loses points for each finding. Every finding links to its source. See how we rate for the scale and the category caps. Points from MAJOR items are not limited by the category cap, so a category can show more points deducted than its cap.