How do you
feel when commercial companies pay lip service to social causes like LGBTQ
rights? Is this just the price one pays
for becoming accepted and mainstream?
What do you think about using humor as a means for a sub-culture to
fight against a dominant culture? Do you
appreciate camp?
Saturday, October 21, 2023
In camp's camp
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I've noticed over the years how large companies have capitalized on the LGBTQ+ community by changing their logos to rainbow versions or selling their products in rainbow variety. While I can appreciate the effort of making everyone feel inclusive, I would be naive to believe that is the real reason companies do it. Of course, as more and more younger people join the work force and therefore the marketing/design teams, the more I believe the likelihood of an actual LGBTQ+ person or ally worked on the material and it came from a good place. However, I feel like you can always tell when the products being sold/the campaign the company is advocating is based and produced by people actually in touch with the community, and when it’s a cheap, ill-informed and quick way to make money.
ReplyDeleteIn Slovakia, any LGBTQ+ representation matters, as Slovakia is not nearly as open or progressive as America or Amsterdam are today. I saw a Christmas ad this year that included an ambiguously queer person, and though the ad did focus on them being “out of place” and feeling uncomfortable until their grandma simply asked “are you happy?” and the ad concluded with a vague note about acceptance, this ad is still very subtle and probably not at all the type of ad the article was referring to. From what I’ve seen, Western countries (and primarily America) have very “in your face” ads with lots of colors and catchy key words that make the whole message of inclusion and representation fade into the background while attracting young vulnerable queers into spending their money at said company.
I think it wouldn’t be fair to tell the LGBTQ+ community to “just be happy to be accepted,” as straight people are included and respected without their sexuality and gender identity being the target of extremes - hate/violence or “fake” love/capitalizing of off them. On the other hand, I think this trend for pride is better than its violent and hateful alternative, and though definitely ingenuine and even insulting, still a step into the right direction.
As for humor, I think queer people have always been able to use humor to cope with the struggle of having your identity be denied, with these ads/campaigns being no exception. It's very funny, even to someone like me who is mostly just a spectator. I'm sure its therapeutic for everyone to take a step back from the politics and laugh at the absurdity of it all, something even straight people can learn from. Using camp as a form of exaggerating the seriousness of unimportant things or highlighting insignificancies takes a lot of skill and in-depth understanding of camp culture, but as with comedy in general, if done well, it can be immensely entertaining and beneficial to all.
Gretka, I absolutely agree with you regarding the Christmas ad. I realized the queer connotations only after watching it several times and the ad is, in my opinion, very open to interpretation. I think that this flimsy representation was intentional. It seems people in Slovakia aren’t quite ready to acknowledge the LGBT+ community yet, so the representation they do get has to be questionable. I think it’s either because the companies want their ads to be uncontroversial, so that no one gets offended and they don’t lose money, or because they are afraid of reprisals from people who oppose the LGBT+ community. I don’t think that such a fear would be unfounded, as people are willing to go to great lengths when motivated by hate, like what happened in Tepláreň. However, we can’t let this scare us, because then we would never be able to bring about positive change. We have to show the world that no matter what, the people of Slovakia endorse the LGBT+ community and that we won’t back down in the face of fear.
Delete- Sofia
The change that happens on June 1st every year is quite striking to me. Just like the author mentions, I get barraged by ads, tweets and corporate posts that all claim to support pride and then all of them magically disappear on July 1st. It’s clear that they were never genuine in the first place and only meant to appease the LGBT+ community. Or, as the author states, to use queer culture for profit, because that is the only thing people in charge of these companies care about.
ReplyDeleteWhile I don’t agree with the shallow reasons why big corporations celebrate pride month, I think the fact that they at least acknowledge it is a good thing. It shows that society has progressed somewhat when companies which don’t show support for the LGBT+ community are in the minority. The LGBT+ community used to be something that no one wanted to talk about or even admit its existence where I’m from. But when every ad is rainbow, you can’t ignore it anymore and it forces you to think about the discrimination members of the LBGT+ community face and sympathize with them. Of course, not everyone appreciates this, so every June I come across a couple angry commenters on every post or tweet who are beyond offended at the fact that gay people are real and want the same rights that straight people have.
To me it seems that pride tweets usually do more harm than good, even though they it looks like they are helping at first glance. But I doubt that a single tweet or ad could ever make a big change in our society. So, I think it’s up to all of us to show support for the LGBT+ community and make pride month something to be proud of.
- Sofia
Sofia, I agree with you when it comes to the harmful effects of propaganda on LGBTQ+ matters such as Pride Month. As you mentioned, it is nice that they acknowledge this month and try to express their support, but in a way, they are creating a trend out of things such as Pride Month.
DeleteI feel like due to the tendency of most large companies to show support for the LGBTQ+ “ it has slowly become a trend. People wear rainbows, share a post on Instagram, and that is all. Instead of people educating themselves and doing something useful, I feel like many people show support because everyone else is doing it and it would be weird if they would not, it is something trendy that month.
I also think that companies use it as a marketing technique, people see that they promote the acceptance of the LGBTQ+ community and sell thematic products and want to check the company out. By reaching out to the public with something current, they gain more attention.
However, even though I say this, I think that it does not matter if companies promote these movements or not, there would be problems coming from both sides either way. I think that since it is such a sensitive (for some people) and current topic, where no one can objectively say what is 100% right or wrong, a problem is deemed to occur either way.
Nina
Sofia, I agree with all the points you have stated, although, I think that appreciating the acknowledgment of pride month is the absolute bare minimum. Or maybe the bar in Slovakia is just that low. I do believe that society has progressed in terms of recognizing such a community, however, how real is that recognition? The only time we really see the majority supporting this community is either during pride month, or when something terrible happens, for example what happened in Tepláreň, as you have mentioned. This makes me think what “adding rainbows” does to commercials, products, etc. Does something so simple as adding a rainbow logo onto something change anything? Does it prove that they are all of a sudden supporters of such a community or have done something in favor of them? I think if a company (for example) goes out of its way to show support for the LGBTQ+ community, they should at least do something worthwhile. Something that helps them in some way, rather than just showing recognition of it. From what I’ve seen from most companies, they add color and rainbows onto something and call it a day. And the LGBTQ+ community might see right through it, but probably won’t say anything as they would most likely get backlash for being “ungrateful” or “unappreciative” of what they already got. The more I think about it, the more insane it becomes. How society has normalized celebrating companies/people/ads that show the slightest hint of support even thought it’s purely for their own growth and benefit.
DeleteGretka