In the UK, many companies and organisations have adopted the rainbow into their logo for Pride month and some have brought out new product ranges too. How do you feel about things like this? On social media, opinion seems to be split between those who see it as "cashing in" and making profit from Pride and those who welcome the support and increased visibility (roughly where I stand). No big arguments please, but where do you stand?
I view it as some of both. The visibility is good but sometimes it gets to be too much. For example, the pet store near me was selling rainbow sweaters for guinea pigs which seemed to be a little much.
Companies Pridewashing is just as much garbage as greenwashing. Individuals doing so on social media etc might be ok if they are allies and is perfectly ok for LGBT+ people even if they normally do not show such things.
I'll gladly take any support we can get, even if has a bit of a hidden motive. That being said, independent queer artists etc should be supported this June if you want to buy rainbow anything. Not Amazon and other huge companies.
I think it's mostly cashing in on it. My company also wanted to do this, but then everyone working here said no - not until you truly have a diverse culture that embraces LGBTQ+ . They're working on it, but they have a long way to go.
Mostly cashing in, especially considering how many places still do business in countries that are still openly hostile to people in the LGBT community.
I'm of a real mixed mind on this. There have been companies that have stood by the LGBTQ+ community since long before it became cool. It's been a long time since I attended Pride, but even back then I could see a coming tide of commercialization. However, post 9/11, everyone wanted heavy security for public events and that just raised costs. Could the local community cover that? Or did local Pride organizers reach out to those with deeper pockets? But much like Cinco de Mayo celebrations in most of the US (and elsewhere), there is a certain amount of cultural appropriation of minority culture so others can make money. Will Juneteenth be next? While it's not my first choice and I rather miss when Pride was just about the community and a few supportive allies, it does say something when large corporate entities are no longer fearful of using LGBTQ+ imagery when they do what they do (which is make money).
I really really dislike it. How about we change the education system so that kids learn more than just about old straight white men? Pride Month is useless when we don't make these changes
This. Here in Brazil we had three days ago a stream from a beer company, which had posted that they supported the LGBT+ movement, in which they paid some "artists" to sing sertanejo. After one song, while talking to the audience and between themselves, the singers started to make homophobic jokes and one of them acted all flamboyant in an act of mockery towards gays. Until now and as far as I know, the company hasn't said a damn thing about it. Another store chain that sells clothes in Brazil changed their logo to include a rainbow flag. This company strongly supported Bolsonaro during his campaign, the most homophobic and bigot president we had until now, after the brazilian military dictatorship. So, yeah... on one hand, I think it's nice that we are seeing more discussions about this. However, we need to be careful not to let companies take our movement and transform it in a way to grab our money without giving a shit about our lives. It's easy to post a rainbow on Twitter, but if the company does nothing against an act of homophobia, they can go to capitalist hell. I don't care about avatars or cute posts. Are they donating money to LGBT+ projects? Are they openly positioning themselves against bigots, for real? Are they hiring and giving voice to LGBT+ people? This is what is important. And I won't settle for less.
Cashing in. I feel it makes Pride out to be a joke or a fad in some ways. Like Kellogg's with the cereal. It's less about bringing acceptance and equality and making people comfortable in their own skin and more about kitschy stuff to make a buck.
Consumerism at its finest, I dislike it. The amount of companies that sell rainbow merch targeting PRIDE month and then donate to politicians who are anti lgbt and push anti lgbt bills. I really hate the way the world works honestly.
Cashing in. Not authentic at all. You have companies and organizations that have always been sort of conservative and now they have overlays with rainbow and then some colors that a web designer or graphic artist came up with for them. They are definitely big companies and have LGBT representation within them. But what's the real story between the image they are portraying and the reality once inside?
All I can say is: follow the money. Look into what organizations, politicians, and charities the companies that sell pride merch donate to. Look into what legislation they support. I am all for the increased normalization of LGBT pride and LGBT acceptance, but that doesn't mean I'm willing to give my money to any company that has hopped on to the pride bandwagon.
You mean like mentioned in this article I presume: Congresswoman is shredding companies celebrating “Pride” while supporting anti-LGBTQ politicians Companies that change their logo to include a rainbow are finding out that isn't good enough when they're funding the onslaught of anti-LGBTQ legislation we've faced over the past years.