Yassified Whoppers? It’s High Time Corporations Cease the Meaningless Virtue Signaling
We’re midway through Pride Month and as per tradition, corporations are schilling their rainbow-themed specials and flaunting their yassified logos on Twitter and LinkedIn.
There was a time 10 plus years ago when companies voicing their support for social justice issues like gay rights was meaningful and even risky, but in most western countries, I would argue that time has passed.
Most savvy consumers who care about social justice issues (and many do) know how to find the information they want about a brand’s positions on these matters. In fact, we seem to be living in an era when companies and brands adopt socially inclusive statements by default. The Chik-fil-a’s of the world are few and far between. It’s no longer edgy or brave to voice support LGBTQ issues. It’s about as exciting as a bologna sandwich.
I would even argue that the pandering done by brands on Western social media is actually deceitful. Global brands like Disney have come under fire for self-censoring content in less socially progressive countries like China and Saudi Arabia, which only reiterates the fact that the vast majority of companies will do whatever it takes to appease the most consumers possible in the name of profit.
Furthermore, these hollow declarations of support often distract from the bigger picture about what actions these companies are undertaking to ensure that their own employees feel safe, included, and heard within the organization itself, or whether, when push comes to shove, companies are actually willing to take action that unequivocally demonstrates their commitment to LGBTQ rights. At least 45 major companies have softly expressed their disdain for Florida’s “Don’t Say Gay” law, but has a single one put the money where their mouth is? Threatened to wind down their operations in the state? The silence is deafening.
The worst-case scenario is that Pride Month continues evolving into a commercialized spectacle, watering down the memory of lives lost to anti-gay violence and the years of fighting, inching toward equality one law at a time, meanwhile, LGBTQ rights are increasingly under threat in the United States from bigoted state lawmakers and a conservative Supreme Court, hell-bent on undoing rights that many of us have taken for granted.
This Pride Month, we don’t need meaningless deals on fast food, we need more corporate allies willing to firmly stand up for their own employees and consumers who feel the rubber band of progress snapping backward.
