Remember that Ad/PR guys by and large are ‘plugged in’ to the so called ‘mainstream’. So they often go with prevailing winds. Those winds often ‘say’ that the genpub is PC and so PC decisions by Co’s translates to increased revenue.
Long ago I worked with a ‘professional’ person like that. She based her ad/PR decisions on “Friends” the tv showand what was ‘popular/trendy’ there.
Company failed.
But in this case, I imagine there was some lib effort at coordination.
I think there is something to all of this. If you winter (or summer for that matter) in Aspen, and head out to the Hamptons for the oh-so-trendy parties, and your friends are of similar persuasion, there is definitely a sense of wanting to be ultraPC for business reasons, for social reasons, for networking reasons etc.
Yet I still would not want to exclude some heavy handed pressure being applied by someone with real authority as so many companies bailed and so quickly. To me it smells like a shakedown, although I agree with you that the things you mentioned play a role as well.