Corporations are Proud in June… But That’s Just For Clout.
Over the last few decades, corporate America has decided that it needs to be more inclusive. We see this in their branding, but that does seem to be the extent of their effort. Logos light up with rainbows for pride month and then fade for the other eleven months. This identity expression was a supportive tool in the past, but in 2021 I’m hoping to see a bigger effort than a rainbow and #loveislove.
Erving Goffman's self-presentation theory states that identities are performances of various roles in various situations. What a brand is to the outside world may not be the same presentation of a brand in the board room or to other business partners. Further, the identity we present is what we believe ourselves to be and who our audience believes us to be. (Davis)
What I know irks the LBGTQ+ community is when companies slap a rainbow on their logo and make an affirming statement without ever consulting with any leaders in the queer community. This is the essence of the “front stage,” where companies perform for their audience and consumers. People immediately accept that these companies care about LGBTQ+ issues without a second thought. It signals to their consumers that they are supportive — but what is support in 2021?
I remember when companies first started this logo adventure. The first logo I saw was on Google’s home page. Big letters in the rainbow font (of course) ready for you to search anything your queer little heart desired. And that was a giant leap. Maybe Google wasn't the goliath it is today, but it was still extremely prevalent (this is even before the iPhone). Before this, LGBTQ+ people were known but were not wholly accepted into society. It was risky for businesses to accept queer people publicly.
But that was then, and this is now. Now it is in vogue to be LGBTQ+ inclusive. So much so that brands are running to get their rainbows onto social media come June 1. But colorful logos are not enough today. Today black trans women are killed at an alarming rate, considered they represent a slither of our population. Our state legislators around the country are targeting trans children. And while the outlook is definitely brighter for the cis-gendered members of the queer community, we are still targeted and discriminated against in society.
So the companies might be showing us they support us, but what are they doing “back stage?” In Nike’s BeTrue campaign for pride month in 2018, they used a pink triangle in their sneaker design. (Kai, 2018) For reference, the pink triangle was used in Nazi Germany to label gay men in concentration camps — much like they labeled Jews with the Star of David. Nike’s public campaign presented the picture of LGBTQ+ inclusion and acceptance. We don’t get to see the design process, but it seems Nike consulted no LGBTQ+ people on this design brief. And it isn’t very reassuring that Nike would put their foot in their mouth so severely for a pride product.
It’s important to remember that front stage self-presentation is much simpler. It doesn't require any justification, and sometimes what we see is easy to accept at face value. We really want to know what is happening in the executive suites and who is in those offices. All of us can add those profile picture filters to our Facebook profiles, but that really changes very little. The real change occurs when we move companies like Nike, Amazon, and Google to make changes that impact our communities. What if Nike spent more time funding LGBTQ+ athletes. Right now, their voice would have a resounding force behind transgender athletes. There are so many things that big business is doing behind closed doors that negatively affect us, and we should be prying into their back stage actions.
Davis, Warren. 2021. Social Media PT1. https://missouri.hosted.panopto.com/Panopto/Pages/Viewer.aspx?id=cb48658c-7f3b-4cd1-bb2b-ac6f0151146d
Kai, Maiysha. June 4, 2018. Pride for Profit? Nike Catches Criticism for Using the Pink Triangle on Its BeTrue Sneakers. The Root. https://theglowup.theroot.com/pride-for-profit-nike-catches-criticism-for-using-the-1826518266
