Commercialised "Pride"

[Elfy]

@spoonchicken just posted a thread with a police car with Pride decals on it and it reminded me of something I've been feeling an increasing amount recently. Just to be clear, I'm not having a go at Spoonchicken here or anything like that it just reminded me to make a post!

Is anyone else getting tired of the way that Pride is being repurposed by companies to make a profit or to make themselves look good?

The changing of the logos where they added the rainbow filter for the passing of same-sex marriage was fine. It was a momentous event and I don't blame anyone for celebrating it but now I see companies doing it for Pride month. I see special merchandise being sold which is usually the same old merchandise with a rainbow put on. It's got to the point where it seems like companies are competing with each other or feel they have to do it for "public relations."

I'm bisexual and my fiancee is transgender. I understand the importance of Pride and cannot thank enough the LGBT people (and allies) who came before me and got the world to a point where we can be who we are. This overt bandwagon jumping and commercialisation of Pride (especially the rainbow) has me wondering who is more cynical: Me or the companies using it to look human?

Pride is important for LGBT people and there is still a lot of work to be done in may areas before we get true equality and maybe the visibility is still important. In some areas it is easy to understand more than others.

Am I alone in rolling my eyes when I see the umpteenth company change their Facebook logo to one with a filter? Or make some bland statement written by a dozen people about how their company is LGBT friendly? Am I supposed to congratulate them for obeying the laws or treating people like me with respect?

I'm very cynical and maybe the emergence of the far-right throughout the world shows that I'm wrong... I just thought this might be an interesting topic to discuss.

[DiaperboyEddie12]

Well said Elfy

[Sarah_Hillcrest]

I totally get where you're coming from, I have a few takes on it. 

First one, you're totally right, pride being co-opted by the big corps to sell products and improve their image.

Second one:  BIg corps are actually LGBTQ friendly, it's in their best interest and they were a big part of pushing the needle towards equality.

Third one:  The world has vastly changed, the conservatives have lost this battle of the culture war and LBGTQ is mainstream and currently en vouge.  Anything that's hot is fodder for big business.  

Seriously going corporate mainstream is probably the best thing that could happen to the LGBTQ cause.  money = power.

[dyperbole]

In the news today.....https://www.newschannel5.com/news/newschannel-5-investigates/capitol-hill/tennessee-prosecutor-gay-people-not-entitled-to-domestic-violence-protections

I think that companies commercializing "Pride" is really, really, really far down the totem pole of issues for LGBT+.

[Firefly 35]

4 hours ago, diaperchucky said:

The world has vastly changed, the conservatives have lost this battle of the culture war and LBGTQ is mainstream

That's the key point here.  What I think the far right radicals want is for there to only be one type of relationship, as other forms of expression (such as LGBTQ) would limit their power.  However, a society will not succeed if people do that.

[Elfy]

Not a company but rather a country. My country as embarrassed as I am by that.

A very good (if extreme) example of the kind of stuff I'm talking about.

[Brudda Voodu]

I think the pride march has become used for political and economic gain by numerous people and groups.

[Sophie ♥]

The trend of supporting LGBT rights is a company investment, of course.  And as a gay girl, it's really irritating to see my identity used as a way to gain political and monetary support.  But at the same time, the fact that a company's "best interest" is to support LGBT rights is very uplifting.  Five years ago, we would never see anything like this.  At the very least, it's a visual mark of progress.  So I'll take solace in that and save my cynicism for the plethora of other things capitalism does wrong.

[DAQ]

I am not LGBTQ so I can not speak to the frustration from seeing such a symbol commercialized. But as someone who seeks equal rights for everyone I think that the proliferation of such symbolism is a good thing. If just one or two companies did it bigots could boycott with enough power to make a meaningful impact. But if EVERY company is doing it those tactics are no longer an option. As others have said as well I think it shows just how common LGBTQ is and that goes so much further for creating acceptance.

[Cute_Kitten]

This reminds me of something unusual I saw when I was away with family for Memorial Day- we went to a Civil War tourist site, and outside of a shop that sold a bunch of souveniers and Civil War themed stuff, including costumes, was a rainbow flag flying alongside a confederate flag. It was very weird seeing the two flags side by side- but the confederate flag was to attract customers "Hey! We sell Civil War stuff! Buy our souveneirs!"  and the Rainbow flag to support the LGBT*.  I thought it was kinda cool a small shop like that was into showing support. 

[rubbersheetmike]

On 6/3/2019 at 10:14 PM, diaperchucky said:

The world has vastly changed, the conservatives have lost this battle of the culture war and LBGTQ is mainstream and currently en vouge.  Anything that's hot is fodder for big business.  

Seriously going corporate mainstream is probably the best thing that could happen to the LGBTQ cause.  money = power.

Your probably right. I havent been to a pride parade or party for many years but it seemed to be pretty mainstream the last time I was there. Thats good for LGBTQ rights and acceptance but I sometimes wonder if people with fetishes or who don't fit easily into boxes get pushed more to the sidelines by generic gay acceptability? A gay friend of mine recently told me that LGBTQ risks becoming boring as it loses its edge. 

[CutieButtCrusader]

It's definitely a mixed bag warranting a lot of complex feelings. On the one hand, it's a good barometer of social progress that a company will wear a pride flag because the alternative would hurt their bottom line, but that's still second best to a corporate entity or some high ranking official taking a moral human rights stance.

The other thing to remember is how much of a hurt community we are. Not only are we completely not unified - there are folks who would want to drop the B and the T entirely, folks who say that someone who's ace can't be queer, and more - but we still face the pressures from outside forces. Our bad mental health statistics are through the roof. Not only do we experience the generational violence of what has come before us, but there is still so much fresh pain in the world to deal with, and CEOs and companies don't engage that on a more than superficial level.

What I remember most in these discussions is the argument around whether or not police were allowed to march in uniform at the Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras. They have been marching in the parade since 2011, but the department did not issue an apology until 2017 for the mass arrests for LGBT folks from the 1978 march; people whose names were then released in the media, who lost jobs, and who lost family. This is what we deal with.

[ForbiddenFruit]

Vocalising some milquetoast lgbt support is really not worth anything if the brand doesn't also put in the effort to give more thorough support. There is, for one, overlap between 'companies who use pride colours as logos during pride month' and 'companies who, through corporate accounts, donate money to anti-LGBT political candidates'.

Bluntly, the most (non-queer-run) org I've seen do something more substantial, for pointing out that a Straight Pride Parade would be beyond pointless, is fuckin' axe body spray of all brands.

 

On 6/8/2019 at 1:59 AM, rubbersheetmike said:

Your probably right. I havent been to a pride parade or party for many years but it seemed to be pretty mainstream the last time I was there. Thats good for LGBTQ rights and acceptance but I sometimes wonder if people with fetishes or who don't fit easily into boxes get pushed more to the sidelines by generic gay acceptability? A gay friend of mine recently told me that LGBTQ risks becoming boring as it loses its edge. 

Okay so yeah, this is a thing.

Swathes of people believe that lgbt rights end at marriage equality and just, sort of leave trans people by the wayside. Queer kink scenes get suppressed at pride in favour of corporate floats and cop floats and TERFs. It doesn't take shit for a company to fly The Iconic Rainbow Flag, but barely any by comparison will show specifically the trans flag, or the rainbow variant that's inclusive towards POC; I saw exactly one of the latter, which was the Overwatch League team Shanghai Dragons. 

It's not so much 'boring' as much as the fact that what becomes a communal place for misfits then has to dull its own knives as corporate commodification steps in. Anything 'inconvenient' - i.e. the most vulnerable members of our community - have to get swept under the rug to keep us palatable to a cis audience that wants to clap themselves on the back.

[Dubious]

If they can make money from it..

Everything today is all about the money

 

[PlstkBakdnghtnday]

Our sheriff is bi and his daughter is lesbian. He had a county car wrapped with a rainbow vinyl print for pride month, has an LGBTQ liaison, and threw out the first pitch of the gay softball league season with no cameras to document. It helps with votes but it is genuine 

[LaFleurSauvage]

Like I said elsewhere, this is a good thing. We need to stop fighting the battles of the past, and fight the battles of the now. The fact that we are being pandered to is a GOOD thing. It means our communities are accepted and welcomed enough to be worth pandering too. We are here, we have drawn our line, and that line is starting to be respected. We have fought for and earned marriage. So now, discern your patronage, the same way straight people do, when they feel their internal groups are being pandered too, or ways you discern when your other identity elements are pandered too.

We are a target market, and are going to be marketed too. If a marketing campaign is disingenuous, then avoid it, but lets not condemn commercialization of pride, but instead celebrate what it represents. That the call of "We are queer and we are here" is finally being recognized and valued by our society. The fight is far from over, but right now, the fight for a spot at the table is won.

[rubbersheetmike]

On 6/16/2019 at 8:29 AM, ForbiddenFruit said:

Swathes of people believe that lgbt rights end at marriage equality and just, sort of leave trans people by the wayside. Queer kink scenes get suppressed at pride in favour of corporate floats and cop floats and TERFs. It doesn't take shit for a company to fly The Iconic Rainbow Flag, but barely any by comparison will show specifically the trans flag, or the rainbow variant that's inclusive towards POC; I saw exactly one of the latter, which was the Overwatch League team Shanghai Dragons. 

 

I think theres a lot of discrimination even in the LGBT community about minorities like trans people. I suspect theres a kind of white picket fence view by corporate sponsors who are really catering to certain components in the community. I know a couple gay guys who are quite well off financially. They travel a lot and own their own places. They have lots of disposible income so they and people like them are a big target audience for corporations. Money talks I guess. 

[ToddlerBoy16]

I find the rainbow change over isn't so bad. Sure it's becoming slightly commercialized, but for a company whose goal is to expand as far as possible, even into countries where being LGBT is illegal, it's a big step. I don't mind the support, even from companies, if it means that more nations are being forced to either accept pro-gay businesses or alienate themselves from the world entirely.