How companies are Queerbaiting and only practice nominal activism
I thought of writing this article near the end of Pride Month, on the evening of the 28th of June when I watched the European Championship game France vs. Switzerland. In the second halftime of the game, I noticed how the stadium billboards of big corporations like Booking.com and Volkswagen were wrapped in rainbow colors, showing their support for the LGBTQ+ community. Just a week before, they still had plain Logos, trying to appeal to a heteronormative audience, without any sign of supporting the Queer community or universal equality. The reason corporations started this campaign is partly due to an outrage by various European countries about the newly passed Hungarian anti-LGBTQ+ law, which is valid since the 23rd of June 2021. It declares Gay-friendly content as banned from being distributed at schools for people who are under the age of 18, as well as it is prohibited from having any airtime on daytime television. Following a wave of media attention and complaints from multiple European countries about the legislation, Volkswagen ultimately decided it would be a good move to change their football advertisement/billboard to rainbow colors, stating: “The change of Volkswagens pitchside advertising to rainbow colours stands for a positive and colourful sign — for respect and responsibility in our society. Volkswagen stands for democratic values and equality.”
The question is when VW stands for equality and democratic values, why didn’t they let their billboards shine in rainbow shades from the beginning of the tournament, especially since June is the month of Pride. Why did they only now decide to change their advertisement? Queer people aren’t solely existing in June, they exist all 12 months of the year like every other human being. The reason VW ruled to change their soccer commercial only now, is particularly due to the marketing benefits they receive from being seen as a protector of LGBTQ+ rights. At the same time, they carelessly abandon those values in other countries like Russia and China and practice Queerbaiting. They entice LGBTQ+ people and younger generations like Gen Z into thinking they are a gay-friendly company, while actually being frightened to take a stance against the oppression of social groups in other countries. Indubitably this is in fear of losing consumers and therefore sales. However they aren’t the only company acting hypocritical and heedless when it comes to fundamental human rights. BMW is yet another example of a money-driven company, choosing to hop on any movement if it helps boosting their profits.
On the 28th of this June, the Instagram logo of the official German BMW account was wrapped in a pride flag and even one of their highlights was named “Diversity”.
Now let’s take a look at the Instagram logo of the Russian BMW account.
They stop using the rainbow flag entirely on this Instagram account as they are fearful of getting into trouble with the Russian authorities, since the country introduced an anti-LGBTQ+ legislation in 2013, called the “Russian gay propaganda law”, which pretty much resembles the Hungarian one. Rather than committing to persistently aid the Queer community, specifically in countries where Queer rights are being repressed, BMW, Volkswagen, Booking.com, and many other companies choose to take the easy way and only practice nominal activism without real actions. It’s a dull moreover, pretentious marketing strategy which is also referred to as rainbow capitalism, where LGBTQ+ movements are being commodified. Like the transgender woman and activist Phenix said in an episode of the German podcast “FOMO-Rainbow Washing im Pride Month”: “Being queer is not a trend, it’s not something you can adorn yourself in, and it’s not all fun and colorful. This is my actual, everyday life experience.” adding later on “Just because a company writes “Rainbow” on their products, doesn’t mean it actually also contains “Rainbow”.
And I think this is exactly what consumers need to look at before they decide to support a brand.
- Do the ideological values and definite actions of the company align with my premises?
- How do they help the LGBTQ+ community outside of Pride Month? In form of donations for instance.
- Do they make sure to protect Queer rights within their own company?
- Are there are any awful, negative articles about the brand?
- Check the Corporate Equality Index by the HRC to see what corporations are LGBTQ+ friendly
So does Queerbaiting only have negative sides?
No, this year the financial institutions Mastercard and bunq for example launched a campaign in Europe, called “True Name”, which allows transgender and non-binary people to use one’s self-chosen name on their debit card. And the clothing brand COS for instance sells a pride bag from which 100% of the profits go to the Kaleidoscope Trust, a nonprofit organization fighting for LGBTQ+ rights. During the European Championship, even Volkswagen made an effort to display their billboard advertisements in countries such as Azerbaijan and Russia, but were ultimately prohibited to do so by the UEFA.
Nevertheless, all those campaigns happened because Queer people don’t stop fighting for their rights and address the ongoing injustice. Otherwise things like, same-sex marriage would surely still be banned in countries such as Germany, the U.S., as well as Taiwan, and I probably wouldn’t have started writing this article.
If companies decided to stop scraping at the tip of the iceberg and start addressing LGBTQ+ problems thoroughly and seriously, there could be a lot of change for the better, specifically since they have such a vast audience.
Since this is the end of my article about Queerbaiting, I want to mention that as a 20-year-old, straight cis-male, I am nowhere near to fully apprehend or feel what Queer people have to go through. So if I made a mistake which you feel attacked or offended by in any kind of way, please let me know. It’s not my intention to hurt anyone’s feelings.
