Inside the Weird World of Niche Conservative Businesses

What does it mean to be a conservative wireless network? Or a conservative dating app? What about a cookie company that makes Donald Trump–themed gingerbread men? As mainstream cooperations have embraced progressive political positions in recent years, some conservatives are responding by providing a politicized consumer experience of their own.

“People are seeing a shift in corporate America having a lot of influence on politics,” said Chrissi Bretz, the director of outreach at Public Sq., a database of conservative-oriented businesses. “We’re seeing large corporations spending money on agendas.”

In interviews with Reason, right-wing business owners at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) consistently framed their companies as reactions to mainstream corporations—and mainstream culture—which they characterized as hostile to conservative interests.

“Right now, there’s a lot of parts of the country, especially on mainstream dating apps, where we feel like it’s a hostile environment for us. We want our own place where it’s easy to connect, where we know everyone there is kind of like us,” said John McEntee, co-founder of The Right Stuff, a conservative dating app. “The left dominates culture and industry…. So you could say, ‘Well, what’s the left-wing dating app?’ Well, it’s Tinder.”

“You shop your values,” said Magd