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 the reverberations of its April decision to engage transgender social-media influencer Dylan Mulvaney. Boycotts have come at a cost to both its stock and beer sales.

The controversy has shaved billions off its market capitalization amid a 20% swoon in its stock (it's since recovered, but sits well below the 52-week high it hit in March).

This week, NielsenIQ data from consulting firm Bump Williams showed Bud Light losing its perch as America's most imbibed brew to Constellation Brands' Modelo.