Former Exec Says Levi's Is 'Woke Washing' With Gender Neutral Line: Clearly Bud Light Taught Them Nothing

Levi Strauss & Co. is expanding its line of gender-fluid garments.

In the wake of Bud Light's disastrous stunt with Dylan Mulvaney, an Axios moderator asked Levi's CEO Chip Bergh how he plans to market to those who are "more aware of their gender identities."

Bergh said the solution was to grow the company's selection of non-binary clothing items.

"We are building out slowly," Bergh said. "It started with a small collection of gender-neutral or gender-fluid line, and there's definitely consumer appetite for that."

Levi's first announced its gender-fluid line — called Line 8 — in February 2017. But they've been building it ever since.

The promotional video shows two non-binary models chatting about "what unisex means to them."

And, because parody is now reality, it looks exactly like this old Saturday Night Live skit.

Levi's makes 'clothing for everyone.'

Jennifer Sey was an executive at Levi's when the brand debuted its gender-neutral campaign. But Sey told Fox News Digital the greatest profit for the company came from traditional gender-focused products.

Sometimes men buy women's clothes. Sometimes women buy men's clothes.

"It wasn't a reinvention of the product line," Sey said. "I still think it's woke washing. If we want to call it that. And yes, I did it and I would probably do things a little differently now."

So it seems the gender-fluid line is simply a marketing tactic — pandering to a small portion of the population.

"Levi's has always been a brand for everyone. Just leave it at that," Sey said. "Why wade into controversial politics around gender ideology? Now? When the Bud Light backlash caused a more than 20 percent decline in sales in April for their flagship brand?"

Companies are blinded by ideology.

And they are pressured by a small minority of employees, consumers and activists. These parties have, in Sey's opinion, lost sight of the fact that the purpose of business is to deliver profits. 

"This approach Levi's is taking alienates a significant portion of the population who takes this to be the company furthering a controversial ideology that says biological sex isn't real," she added. "Not a good move, with the stock price already down more than 20 percent this year and 50 percent from two years ago. Just stick with Levi's is for everyone."

But corporations seem to be more interested in furthering their reputations as "do-gooders and altruists," she said.

As evidenced by Dylan Mulvaney's more than $1 million in sponsorship deals.

(Photo by ANDY BUCHANAN/AFP via Getty Images)

"I think it is primarily virtue signaling," Sey said. "I think it is reputation laundering, in a sense. It's a way to signal that you are on the right side of progressive causes without actually having to do very much."

So in a sense, Levi's is just doing what they think they have to do. What every other company is doing.

And next month when every major corporation changes its social media logo to rainbow colors for Pride Month, the performative groupthink will be on full display.

And they'll all pat themselves on the back.