That speaks volumes about your friends.
I don’t think that makes them good or bad people, per se. I’m not here to lay down a judgement. It is what it is.
You're rather taking the agency out of these folks' hands, are you not? It seems entirely likely that they could have independently came to the conclusion to dislike the company's CEO without the need to be "conditioned" by some external narrative.
It's disingenuous to lay down a judgement, then follow up with this. It is what it is.