June is Pride Month.
While there is a palpable sense of community and solidarity prevailing throughout the month, in the middle of all the celebrations, customers are also likely to witness many rainbow logos and colorful marketing popping up.
While the queer community is finally getting the long-overdue visibility it deserves, a lot of it is still just rainbow-washing. This practice isn’t just disingenuous — it harms the business, the customers, and the brand value.
Let's understand more about rainbow washing and why it is bad for business.
Read more: Nurturing an Inclusive Workplace: Strategies to Foster Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion
What is Rainbow Washing?
Rainbow washing refers to superficial, queer-friendly gestures aimed to project positive feelings about a brand to sell something, with less or zero real support going to the community. This term describes how organizations misuse LGBTQ+ symbols to drive profits, boost their reputation, and capitalize off queer consumers.
By rainbow-washing their brands, organizations intend to position themselves as allies to the LGBTQ+ community. But behind the colorful logos, many of them do little to nothing to help to enact positive change for their queer customers. This use of Pride Month as a corporate money-making gimmick makes rainbow washing a sneaky tactic that can seriously damage the brand's bottom line.
The problem with rainbow washing is that brands miss out on what Pride represents. Pride Month celebrates the LGBTQ+ community’s history, struggles, and achievements. It honors the progress made toward equality and recognizes the ongoing fight for rights and acceptance.
Blindly rainbow-washing the brand undermines the significance of Pride and reduces it to a mere marketing opportunity. When businesses engage in simple gestures of support without tangible action, they risk alienating the LGBTQ+ audience and are likely to face backlash from communities that demand authenticity and accountability.
But not all companies are guilty of rainbow-washing.
Some are actually dedicated to taking real action and supporting the LGBTQ+ community beyond Pride Month and just selling products.
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Corporate Rainbow-washing
While organizational and public support of the LGBTQ+ community is critical to improving visibility and creating change through social pressure, it must be integrated in genuine ways that transcend marketing campaigns.
The use of the rainbow logo appropriates its imagery and significance. Its integration into the image of the company’s identity and branding is often considered a marketing tactic to attract consumers of specific consumer groups and shopping habits. Aligning a company’s image and values to the target consumer group is a simple and effective way of attracting consumers, leading them to identify with the brand and thus encouraging them to make purchases.
When rainbow washing is done without proactive support, it is often perceived as a performative and manipulative tactic employed to enhance brand perception and improve monetary gains. This commodifies Pride symbolism, further diluting the significance of its message.
Tips for Brands to Stay Authentic during Pride Month
The solution for brands to connect with their LGBTQ+ consumers and their allies involves putting authentic measures where it matters more than ever. To avoid rainbow washing and keep the Pride Month marketing real, it is important to create impactful campaigns that resonate with the audience:
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Celebrating Pride Year-round
The best way to show your support to LGBTQ+ customers is by not limiting the efforts to the month of June. Incorporate LGBTQ+ themes and authentic stories into the marketing campaigns throughout the year. Highlighting relevant events and supporting LGBTQ+ causes will further help continuously engage with the community and showcase consistent support.
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Use of Inclusive Language
Avoid stereotypes and always be mindful of the right phrases and jargon to choose. Make use of gender-neutral terms where appropriate, and be respectful of individuals’ preferred pronouns. Inclusive language makes the brand more accessible and shows respect for the diverse identities within the community.
Read more: Implementation of Strategic Framework to Foster Gender Equality in Workplace
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Representation Matters
Authentic representation enables the audience to see themselves reflected in the brand and thus fosters a deeper connection.
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Staying Transparent
It is critical for organizations to stay transparent with their portrayal of support for LGBTQ+ causes. Transparency further helps build and strengthen the consumers' trust in the brand.
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Listen to the Audience
Engage with the LGBTQ+ audience and listen to their feedback by creating open dialogue and being receptive to their suggestions and concerns. Using this feedback to improve brand campaigns and make them more inclusive will reflect the feedback value and significantly enhance the brand’s credibility and loyalty.
Establishing the Right Balance
Brands are increasingly addressing social inequalities by means of inclusive advertising. However, it can damage brands if consumers suspect insincere or extrinsic motivations. While it is easy to fall into the trap of second-guessing what people want, even with good intentions, this can crossfire for organizations. Organizations must consider ways to celebrate Pride Month meaningfully by engaging and galvanizing all their employees to leave a lasting impact.
Showing a consistent approach by thoroughly reviewing company policies, initiatives, and benefits will help ensure they are fully inclusive. Ramping up the education and awareness training and hosting workshops with LGBTQ+ advocates/experts from outside of the business will further assist in engaging with and informing people. Inviting employees to share their stories and experiences could galvanize allies and celebrate inclusivity.
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Final Thought
Pride is a celebration and a moment to collectively demand equal rights and opportunities for the LGBTQ+ community. It is equally important to be aware that meaningful support should tie back to its roots. This can be done by using one’s voice and platform to initiate change, advancing LGBTQ+ rights, and providing more opportunities for LGBTQ+ people in the workforce.
Consumers should also adopt a skeptical approach before purchasing from businesses that claim to support the LGBTQ+ community, ensuring they give back to the community.
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