Source: hellomagazine.com |
Last month,
rainbows took over the globe. Whether that be flags in shop windows, or the
rainbow packaging of your favourite cereal, the presence was undeniable.
Welcome to
Pride month.
This is the
month where LGBT+ communities across the world join together and celebrate the
anniversary of the Stonewall Inn riots members of the LGBT+ community stood up
for their right to attend the bars and clubs open to them.
Since, the
parade has gained more and more support, popularity and momentum. And now not only
are members of the public enjoying the festivities alongside charities,
representatives, diplomats and advocacy groups, they’ve also been joined by
corporations.
This year
companies like Boohoo, Primark and Apple advertised their brands
as full supporters of the LGBT+ community. M&S created the LGBT+ BLT
and Ralph Lauren even managed to bag themselves their own filter on
Snapchat. But isn’t Pride supposed to mean more than slapping a bit of avocado
in a sandwich?
Essentially,
we are now in an era where corporations are practically jumping at the
opportunity to rebrand themselves according to every movement we arrive at in
the calendar, whether that be Black History Month, International Women’s Day,
or even National Wine Day in order to appear as woke as possible. What bigger
opportunity do they have to do this than Pride month?
The way this
works is each sponsoring and partnering company pours their money into the
Pride movement in the agreement that they will get their place in the parade.
Source: vox.com |
In recent
years especially, the Pride movement has become far more political in the UK. The
Conservative party have remained working closely with the Democratic Unionist
Party, known for their homophobia, disregard for women and opposition towards
abortion. Yet the Tories do not hold back from praising themselves for
legalising same sex marriage.
Evidently
the politics are there.
That brings
together two key elements that are unquestionably marketable: LGBT+ rights and
political criticism. Each brand that slaps a rainbow on their logo or
introduces a new flavoured product to vouch for the LGBT+ community is
automatically entered into the game of protesting, therefore boosting the
number of consumers who are likely to respond to them and then go on to buy
from them. Its simply a case of increase the market, increase the profits.
Sure,
raising awareness is cool, but these brands need to be letting the public know
what exactly it is that they do for the LGBT+ community. Are they working with
any companies that don’t favour the LGBT+ people? How many people at the top of
the company identify as LGBT+?
Before Pride
becomes entirely bureaucratic and commercialised, perhaps these big brands
should re-evaluate what they’re really giving back in return for that place in
the parade.
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