Companies Targeted For Pride Support Last Year Go Quiet On Social Media In 2024

GiddyGap@lemm.ee to politics @lemmy.world – 366 points –
Companies Blasted For Supporting LGBTQ Pride Last Year—Like Nike And Target—Appear To Pull Back In 2024
forbes.com
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"Our research shows us that the pink dollar isn't as profitable as the bigot dollar. We don't actually care about anything other than profits."

Exactly. Nobody should have been giving them money for rainbow shit without looking at who they actually donate to and what they actually support.

This is still alarming as a bellwether. The Repub domestic terrorism has shut them up.

It's hilarious that this thread accuses them of supporting pride to make money was bad but supporting bigotry for money is also bad.

It's such a perfect microcosm of capitalism and popularity. How gatekeeping good deeds and representation through virtue signaling can turn people away and keep your movement from being funded by billion dollar organizations.

Conservatives will paint the can any color that will drive profits, without donating anything to support the cause.

MAGA will scream and shout about boycotting it.

The right’s spectrum is the difference between covert and overt bigotry.

“We don’t give in to terrorists. Only domestic terrorists.”

"We don't give in to terrorists. Unless they have money. Then we give them goods and/or services in exchange for money."

We like our beers like we like our terrorism, domestic.

Oh look, there it is...proof these companies never gave a flying fuck in the first place.

At first I was going to disagree, but then I thought about it and realized that if they truly gave a fuck, they wouldn't have let the crybullies win in an attempt to claw back their dollars.

The North Face previously garnered pushback for its “Summer of Pride” event series in 2022 and 2023 in partnership with drag queen Pattiegonia

I’m sorry, which company partnered with a drag queen named Pattiegonia?

Interesting and not shocking. But I was just making a joke about the fact that one of their main competitors is Patagonia and the drag queen’s name is Pattiegonia

Patagonia is way better

Hell yeah. This makes me even more satisfied with my backpack.

Downloading this app right now.

Let’s go we could use a few informed consumers holding companies accountable

some super brilliant marketing exec probably thought it would swipe a few clicks from people misspelling their competitor's name in search engines.

he works at wendy's now.

No no, it’s actually a pretty good idea lol. I mean, the exec may very well work at a Wendy’s but that’s probably more so because of all the right wing backlash

In other news, threats of violence continue to be used because they're effective, film at 11.

Remember, guys. When you're criticizing companies like Target for this, remember that it's not the CEOs that have to deal with the fallout on a day-to-day basis. They're safe in their offices. It's the teenage cashiers and stock boys that have to bear the brunt of the threats. It's the rank-and-file employees, who have no say in the matter one way or the other and have no authority to do anything about it. They're the ones who have to deal with the crazy bastards who come in and start physically tearing things down. The ones who come in screaming and causing a scene. The employees who can't even do anything about the asshole, especially if he's uncooperative and refuses to leave. Sure, they could call the cops, who might show up 20 minutes later.

Yes, these companies should be supporting the LGBT community. But if doing so is literally going to put their rank-and-file employees at risk from violent bigots, I can at least understand why they're gun-shy. There's no possible way to stop a bigot from walking into any store and creating havoc to get their point across, and there are far more bigots out there who have already said they're willing to resort to violence than most people thought.

Look at it this way: You have a choice to make. You've got social media on one side telling you to take choice A because it's the right choice to make, and some nutjob(s) in your face, physically threatening you with violence until you take choice B. Which one are you going to choose?

"Everybody has a plan until they get punched in the face." And everybody has an answer until they're the ones being threatened.

Honestly all this tells me is that peaceful movements and protests are seemingly far less effective than violence. So if the LGBT crowd wants to see change, then their going to have to get violent too.

I don't morally agree with it, but it feels hard to deny the realities about it.

Oh most definitely! Freedom is bought with blood.

Source: The whole of human history.

You may not morally agree but I morally encourage it, make those sonsovbitches bleed. Especially if theyre Seventh Day Adventist affiliates or outright part of.

In general, peaceful protests have been historically way more effective. But if you let the violent bigots get too far, especially into governments, you will have no other choice than to remove them with violence. I don't think the world is there yet, but if they are enabled further it "soon" will be.

Well said.

No notes.

No notes? None? Dude’s message is “nothing is worth being bullied over” and you’re all-in? 🤔

Yup. Nothing is worth deciding someone else should get bullied for your decisions. People don't work retail because they want to deal with culture war problems.

This isnt life or death. It's selling rainbow themed products.

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This is PROOF that VIOLENCE is the best way to cause Change!

They aren’t cowards. They are legally obligated to make more profit for the shareholders. They couldn’t give a rats ass about anything else. Any public company showing “support” for pride is only doing it because they think it will drive more business than they’ll lose. The system is fucked

Common misconception. Fiduciary Duty means the Board of Directors has to act in a company's best interest. It does not mean they legally have to maximize every single profit possibility, short and long-term. Some people feel that improving a company's reputation or outreach is in its best interest, even if it doesn't increase profits.

It's also important to know that no one has ever been found guilty of failing to fulfill fiduciary duty, and it's pretty vague. Companies can still do what they want, don't let them tell you their hands were tied and they had to do [awful, greedy thing that everyone hates]...

no one has ever been found guilty of failing to fulfill fiduciary duty

For as big a deal as is made of this by investment advisors and similar roles, this is shocking to read.

That must be hyperbole, right?

Like... The Enron guys at least, right?

Madoff was straight up ponzi scheme fraud, not profit maximisation.

Enron guys were fraudulently booking future possible revenues as certainties.

Deliberate illegal misrepresentation is very different from making a (possibly) sub optimal business decision.

A quick search suggests Enron and Bernie Madoff are a couple of examples of conviction, but maybe there are nuances I'm not familiar with.

Those... are examples of straight-up fraud. Of course that's illegal.

Tim Cook even famously responded to a right-wing troll during a shareholder meeting asking Apple to commit to only doing profitable things and dropping stuff like making their production climate neutral with "When we work on making our devices accessible by the blind, I don't consider the bloody ROI.” “If you want me to do things only for ROI reasons, you should get out of this stock.” and somehow he's still around

edit: it really pissed them off too haha https://nationalcenter.org/ncppr/2014/02/28/tim-cook-to-apple-investors-drop-dead/

Wow those people are scum bags. They call it "so called climate change"

They are required to provide a safe working environment. I think this has more to do with that for the companies in the retail space.

Those that just produce products are all image and can suffer whatever PR backlash they create.

They never cared.

I don’t need Apple going on about LGBTQ+ in my country when it’s already accepted here. It’s funny how in the places where it should be promoted like Saudi or Russia that they keep quiet there.

I used to work for Apple and I’d raise these points in the daily meetings on the shop floor. It’s the same for green shirts to celebrate Earth day, by manufacturing green shirts and then shipping them around the globe. It’s all a facade.

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For all the idiots complaining about corporations milking LGBTQ+... This is far worse.

Oh no representation in media but they're making money off it!

To be TRULY benevolent you can't make money from doing good things. Otherwise you go to hel... Or you should feel bad.

Makking your and others lives better at the same time? That's just selfishness. You're working with using others to get ahead!

No. I want you to be just as miserable as me.

Representation in media but not for the money. If you happen to get more sales from it, great. But doing a 180 in response to backlash means that they don't really care - they just want more money.

There is literally no media without money. It is how it's created, disseminated, and why people can make a living doing it.

It's almost like they have no spine and merely want to cash in on the rainbow-washing.

Who would have thought?

Literally every other meme in June for the last 10 years

Company in May: ⬛⬜⬛⬜⬛⬜

Company in June: 🟥🟧🟨🟩🟦🟪

Company in July: ⬛⬜⬛⬜ ⬛⬜

TBF it only made anyone mad.

Many screeched omigodtheyreturningmahkidsgay. Many were annoyed at the blatant pretense at support that did zero actual supporting and just hoped to make a buck. The rest didn't notice or care.

I guess pretend support is still better than no support, but I didn't believe they were genuine or courageous a year ago, so it's not surprising for them to confirm it.

I already told my partner we can’t shop at target anymore because they gave into these fucks. Let me add more to the list.

Fucking cowards, this is one reason Im jaded against anyone calling themselves an ally. The slightest pressure and they will turn

Yeah, goes to show how fucking hollow aĺ that pride support was

I can’t believe the US Navy is scared of bigots.

I wouldn’t trust them to defend the coasts.

They're not afraid of bigots. They're afraid of low recruitment numbers.

But they've already attacked contraception and are already attacking divorce...

Oh. Oh I get it.