A recent study has found that while some companies say they support various environmental and social causes, their political spending tends to be on candidates whose policies directly undermine these causes, according to the New York Times. Some companies touting respect for LGBTQ rights donated to candidates expressly opposed to those rights; some that say they aim to reduce carbon emissions gave money to candidates who backed easier emission standards; and some that announce support for Black Lives Matter funded politicians vehemently opposed to the movement. All this activity indicates that, at least on some level, firms talking the talk are failing to walk the walk, at least as far as their political donations go.

Companies have responded by saying that often they give money to organizations associated with both parties so that they can hedge their bets, and that the donations are small relative to the size of the firms themselves, but, nonetheless, on a gross level, these contributions can still have a major political impact.