Critical Analysis

1. We know American politics is extremely polarized. But according to the data from the visual above, what brand or company in America is the most polarizing?

2. What does this information tell you about American politics in general?

3. How do you think this polarization of business will impact the 2024 presidential elections?

4. What is a consequence of this polarization in business?

5. Some people blame it on the media. Others blame it on where we live. Why do you think America is so polarized?

6. If you had to evaluate the brands and companies on the list which would you classify as favorable and which would you classify as unfavorable?

7. Can you think of a brand or company that is NOT polarized (in other words, Democrats and Republicans would be equally likely to support/buy/purchase that brand or company)?

8. They say that people either go to Cracker Barrel or go to Whole Foods, but very few people go to both. In fact, over the past few years I’ve only had one student say they regularly go to both! Can you think of another equally polarizing divide in your experience?

9. How polarized are sports in America?*

10. Is there any part of American life that is not polarized?

Learning Extension

Read this story from Morning Consult about why pizza chains are more popular among Republicans!

Listen to this amazing podcast about why we are so polarized.

Action Extension

Try to get a group of 5 to 10 polarized people to get together for lunch at school. Describe how hard it was to get the group together and what the lunch was like. Or, if it was too hard to gather polarized people, take our How Do We Vote? challenge.

Visual Extension*