The core of the neoliberal turn and the conservative embrace of free market absolutism was the idea that letting the market dictate things meant white people living traditional lifestyles dictating things. Back in the 70’s, 80’s, and 90’s, those were the people with disposable income. So letting Mr. Market decide instead of pesky things like democracy or need meant a whites-oriented political economy without explicitly being whites-oriented.

However, that’s not so much the case anymore. Not that white people are not economically advantaged, just that it’s now a combination of enough non-whites with disposable income plus the whites with disposable income are more likely to be urban professional whites with at least a surface-level desire to look multicultural (and it don’t get much more surface-level than fast food commercials). So the advertising industry went from “putting a mixed race or gay couple in an ad would be the death of the product” to “a mixed race or gay couple in an ad will bring in those sweet, sweet Brooklyn dad dollars.”

This presented an existential crisis for “traditional” whites. The market was no longer catering to them, but they were too deep into the neoliberal game to truly turn on the market. This the sort of advertising minutiae we regard as background noise becomes a “canary in the coal mine” for their sense of identity.