Black lives matter. It’s finally not a controversial thing to say, or at least, not as much as it used to be. In the past two weeks, the movement that arose in the aftermath of Trayvon Martin’s death has seen a resurgence in a way that most would not have anticipated. The murder of George Floyd which was caught on camera was the final straw for so many across the country. In all 50 states and the capital, protesters took to the streets to demand justice. But the protests did not stop at the shores of the U.S.—in at least 13 other countries across the globe, there were size-able protests held in spite of a global respiratory pandemic. People have had enough and rightly so. The hashtag #BlackOutTuesday, a one-day moratorium on business as usual whereby users posted a black screen and refrained from self promotion, received over 28.8 million posts on Instagram alone. But private citizens, celebrities, and politicians are not the only ones voicing their stance this time around—corporations are taking a stand as well (though this is unsurprising as corporations strategically tend to follow where consumer values lead). Netflix, Nike, Disney and Twitter are just some of the brands that have put out statements, videos, and other content to voice their support for the black lives matter movement.
The trend of corporations taking a stand in this movement is very much significant because once upon a time, brands tried to stay as far away from activism as possible for fear of alienating stakeholders. Also, communicators have tended to focus response efforts primarily on issues of workplace malevolence, organizational misdeeds, public policy affecting strategic interests, and rumors. External issues that do not have direct impact tend to have been ignored. Well, not in today’s climate—a fact that communicators are waking up to. Brands are finding that in today’s more politically charged environment, they have to make bolder decisions and take stances that may be considered risky.
Nevertheless, it is important for communicators to recognize that situations like these should not be used as mere opportunities to self-serve. Many Twitter users have been vocal in calling out some of the brands that have put out statements for being opportunistic. They have pointed out the hypocrisy of organizations like the San Francisco 49ers which joined in on the #blackouttuesday trend despite the organization’s seeming lack of support for Colin Kaepernick’s kneeling protest. Other companies like Starbucks found that social media users were unimpressed with their statements due to repeated incidents of racism involving the company. The company was instead told ‘open your purse’ (the twitter/tic toc version of ‘put your money where your mouth is’). This just goes to show that consumers are becoming more sensitized to potential situations of corporate virtue signaling.
That said, corporate activism is still the right move for organizations… it just needs to be done right. With this in mind, I wanted to highlight some brands that have done a really good job of responding to this issue. While there were a lot of strong and weak gestures, the following stood out because they were particularly bold and timely.
1. Reebok
Reebok and Crunchyroll (an anime streaming service) both put out powerful statements acknowledging the value of their black stakeholders. Their statements which declared that their companies would not be where they are today without black lives, were well-received due to the undeniably bold stances taken in acknowledging a fact that tends to go unacknowledged in their respective industries—black people form a significant and powerful portion of sportswear and anime customer bases.
2. Glossier
Social media users urged brands to open their purses and that’s exactly what Glossier, a beauty startup, did. The company received a ton of praise on social media because while many bigger names were content to only make statements, Glossier put its money where its mouth is by pledging a million dollars towards combating racial injustice and supporting black-owned beauty businesses.
3. HelloFresh
HelloFresh, a popular meal kit company, was faced with an important decision when their brand ambassador, Lea Michele, was outed by several people who’d worked with her for alleged racial microaggressions, ironically in response to a post in which the former Glee star was voicing support for the BLM movement. Instead of staying silent, the brand took quick action in denouncing the alleged actions and cutting ties with Lea. The company also announced a donation to the NAACP in a formal statement.
4. Nickelodeon
Children’s TV channel Nickelodeon caused quite a bit of a stir when it ‘went dark’ in support of George Floyd. The company aired a video which featured the words ‘I can’t breathe’, accompanied by heavy breathing for 8 minutes and 46 seconds and which was highly controversial among mothers who expressed anger at their children being made aware of this issue. Nickelodeon received praise for its strong stance and not backing down despite the backlash from some. The company stood firmly behind its decision to educate children on the injustices of the world in which they are growing up and the realities for those children who have to live in fear due to these injustices.
5. Ben and Jerry’s
Ben and Jerry’s made a truly extraordinary statement for a brand of its magnitude by calling on Americans to dismantle white supremacy in a lengthy and direct statement that discussed police brutality and the historical roots of racism in America, stated the names of ten victims of white supremacy, and laid out a policy plan to prevent future abuses and correct inequalities. The statement was regarded as groundbreaking and powerful and might just become the gold standard for corporations responding to issues of this kind.
CONTROL, by Fiayo. 