Pride Month and the Fraudulence of Corporate-Backed Social Justice Branding
Social media is more colorful this week. Like a rainbow, to be more specific.
As per tradition, the official accounts of prominent US brands have turned their avatars into rainbow flags for June, a month dedicated to gay pride.
Tuesday, Elon Musk posted a meme with a preview of what the month entails:
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) May 31, 2022
Musk may have undersold how important LGBT pride is to branding in America this year. Google highlighted June 1 on the calendar as if its significance is on par with Memorial Day and the beginning of summer.
Seeing the pride flag plastered across the web could lead one to believe that corporations are unified in a grand celebration. Except, these companies are not celebrating anything. They are not empowering the LGBT community either. Instead, the Googles and Facebooks are weaponizing the occasion to empower themselves through status gain.
Rainbow-inspired profile images are neither noble nor courageous. These pandering avatars are signs of peak hypocrisy.
The same corporations that share the slogan “be bold, be proud, be gay” in the US have succumbed to governments that suppress and outlaw homosexuality.
Wednesday, the corrupt pharmaceutical company called Pfizer Inc. issued a mandate for its social media team to embrace the rainbow flag for the month. But in the command, Pfizer specified to make clear that it supports LGBT equality only in select countries.
