Could companies start making endorsements?

[Simfan34]

Let us say it was Hillary v Trump. Just as we started seeing companies step into politics by declaring support for gay marriage, attempting to demonstrate political compliance and protect against retaliatory action as well as attract the business of gay people and their allies, could you see companies start hedging against criticism by endorsing one candidate-- namely, Hillary?

For a company whose customer base is heavily found in coastal regions, whose consumers would be hard pressed to name a Trump supporter they know, would they seek to protect themselves from accusations of tacit support for Trump-- which could hurt  by not only donating to the Hillary campaign but publicly supporting her? Could Hillary leverage the reputational risk to drive donations?

[Asian Nazi]

There are companies with known political leanings but I think if they affiliated too openly with a specific candidate it would risk damaging their brand.

[Lincoln Republican]

This would be a very foolish move on the part of companies.

Companies have more influence with government and legislators as donors rather than as openly endorsing candidates.

It is far more beneficial for companies and corporations to continue to buy influence rather than make endorsements.

Besides, companies would potentially be turning away millions of consumers by endorsing one candidate over another.

So it would not be a smart move.