I couldn’t have known when I wrote on the rise of corporate political activism for the excellent journal Democracy that North Carolina’s odious ban on LGBT civil rights protections and transgender restroom access would spark the most stirring showing yet, with an extraordinary range of firms boycotting the state, including U.S. Chamber of Commerce stalwarts Pepsi, GE and Dow.

As I say in the article, corporate LGBT advocacy is just part of a wave that also includes tech companies like Uber and Apple enlisting users as political allies, amid plenty of evidence that customers look favorably on corporate activism when it aligns with their values. It does seem only a matter of time before companies openly sponsor candidates for political office as part of building brand identity and loyalty, putting to work their full Citizens United powers until now notably underutilized for fear of consumer or shareholder backlash.