“We need a cultural revolution,” Benioff told CNN Business. He argued that countries with cultures that accept mask use more have been more successful in fighting the virus.
“This whole controversy over masks reminds me of when people were first told they had to wear their seat belts and they didn’t want to,” said Benioff. “People said, ‘But if I get hurt, it’s my body. It’s my life.'”
“At some point, the government has to step in and say, ‘Yes, you have to wear a mask, and if you are not wearing a mask, you will receive a fine,'” he added. “Just like if you don’t wear your seat belt, you’re fined.”
Kroger and Kohl’s have also announced that they would require all customers to wear masks. And the National Retail Federation, the main lobbying group for that industry, has also ordered masks in stores. The requirements mark a change from earlier this year, when most major retailers and grocery stores hesitated to enact masks mandates for fear of antagonizing shoppers who refuse to wear them.
Other important business leaders have also encouraged the use of masks. Microsoft founder Bill Gates recently attributed an increase in coronavirus cases in the United States to a lack of testing and contact tracing, as well as a lack of wearing masks. He said that other countries that had done those things had indeed seen the numbers drop.
Benioff, meanwhile, said he wants to make more wearable masks. She is joining CNBC host Jim Cramer to sponsor a mask design contest organized by the nonprofit XPrize Foundation. The $ 1 million prize pool will be divided among three teams creating a surgical-grade consumer face mask that promotes positive behavior when wearing the mask.
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