The financial toll of right-wing backlash: At least $28B in market value

Social issues are creating a market downdraft for America's mainstay brands — just ask Target, Anheuser Busch, Kohl's and their collective $28.7 billion loss in market value since the beginning of April.

Why it matters: Fiercely contested cultural issues have always aroused political passions, and held sway over electoral politics.

Yet Corporate America is finding itself trapped between society's progressive impulses, and the conservative backlash.

Reactions and counter-offensives against all things "woke" mean companies can find themselves in the crosshairs anytime, and they can't predict the fallout.

Driving the news: Anheuser-Busch InBev is still feeling...