Companies changing their logo background

Some fans from Wales are boycotting the Qatar World Cup finals:
www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-61712221

Fifa have just put out a statement celebrating Pride and talk about how the World Cup in Qatar will be the most inclusive and equal World Cup ever!

The really sad thing is that it might even be true, because they'd set the bar so low.

And this is why I won't watch a single match.

I wonder how much it actually backfires. I mean, every time I see a multinational do this on social media, I quickly check their logos for the official accounts in other nations. When I see they haven't stood up for gay men and lesbians in the middle east, then that's their brand image tainted to me.

I'm sure I'm not the only one doing this.

I don't think it means anything. It's just like the poppy. It's just what one does.

Companies only put the rainbow colours out in countries where homosexuality is legal and have legal protections.

There's no bravery in calling for gay rights in countries with gay rights.

Fifa have just put out a statement celebrating Pride and talk about how the World Cup in Qatar will be the most inclusive and equal World Cup ever!

I hear you with Lego, I'm aware that someone quite high up at Lego is gay and it's quite core to his whole identity and as such they've produced a few gay sets and heavily get involved with Pride (I think I read London employees were quite strongly encouraged to get involved).

We are subscribed to a few YouTube channels of DC7's interest including the official Lego channel, which has been promoting a video about an intersex employee since yesterday.

It's notably out of step with the other content on the channel, not something I especially want popping up for DS to see apropos of nothing when he just wants to watch Lego builds (clutches pearls, etc, but he's 7 for feck's sake), and somewhat importantly doesn't even really adequately explain what intersex is - just someone waffling on about never feeling like they were a woman. It's part of a series not pitched at kids but revering The Community - apparently playing with Lego provides a 'safe space' (eyes roll out of head)

I remember - a million years ago - being stupidly excited to see a pride flag outside a wee bar on some back street in Amsterdam and it being a really lovely, friendly, happy locals hangout.

Now I just swerve places with the ‘bow. Soho is all nouveau pride, and as for all the businesses draping themselves when i know they pay £££££ for ‘D&I’ training and managers and actually do bugger all beyond changing loos and inconveniencing a lot of people.

It really hacks me off that it’s trumpeted as a ‘safe space’ (as I saw on a shop poster at the weekend - safe from what/who?), when back in the day these companies would be the ones treating gay workers badly.

bandwagon-jumping numpties.

exactly this, Kitten.

....as opposed to the flag with the encroaching arrows, you know what I mean.

Me too - the original (and best) is still clinging to the original ethos of acceptance.

I quite like spotting the original Pride flag, I like to think that those sporting this one haven't been Stonewalled [thumbs up]

Westminster uni is flying the new new version with the ‘intersex’ circle. Yup I see it as anti woman and homophobic.

I’m in marketing /or too and know it’s a crock - when I was asked to rebadge our website with the new flag I asked for a fill CBA on doing this - and funnily enough it never came.

As I’ve always said, if Sales thought kicking puppies though a fan was gwt the one sale they’d be down at battersea looking for strays.

I don't get it?

It's just marketing. I work in marketing and companies don't really care it's just about PR and perception.

For black history month and women's day all the companies I've worked at did activities on social media and have zero representation at a senior level.

Promoting the Pride Month costs corporations almost nothing, literally. They don't have to do anything real to improve conditions for the LGBTetc. if they are not fair.

In another thread about a bank in NZ covering gender affirmation leave similar principles apply: There will be very very few who are going to use that so it's not going to lose them much money. Extending something similar to, say, breastfeeding women would cost them many times more as many more new mothers would take such leave.

That's one reason why supporting tiny groups is much more common than supporting women or supporting people who are disabled to work for a corporation. The latter may require expensive alterations and so on.

But all of these virtue signals about the Pride Month etc. are corporations following public opinion. They will not take risks and lead, and they won't do this in the Middle East, say, as that would cost them money and customers.

I agree, it's largely mindless 'ooh we're being nice'.

However as a lesbian I see that stamp of 'we are stating here our political affiilation to a group who are homophobic and believe in the subordination of females' and it chills me. As a gay female - yeah, they're stating that they not only exclude me but support a group that actively threatens me and wants my equality, access and sexuality removed. And they can stay away from me.

I wonder if they actively realise that it's a very exclusionary, scary kind of inclusion that they're signalling a commitment to?

Saw this the other day...

Putting aside an GC concerns for a moment, from a BRAND DESIGN point of view sticking the pride flag behind an existing logo is shit and makes a company look like complete marketing amateurs!
The same companies (yes, John Lewis and Sainsbury's...) will likely have spent millions on a 'Brand Guidelines handbook' which explains how logos must be used in B&W, how they can't be stretched, or used with certain colour combinations etc etc and then they let the Diversity Intern come along and insist that these utter ABOMINATIONS of their logo be used for 1/12th of their trading year. It's terrible marketing practice!

I used to write to them and tell them this, and how also how offended I was that they didn't make similar concessions for Internation Women's Day or Hedgehog Awareness Week, but I only ever got back a standard response which entirely missed the point of my email.

Where is the dignity in shooting someone?

I found it “ interesting “ that it was the new flag which was used at the Jubilee parade, not the more appropriate original one.

Is vaguely threatening, in a bullet with your name on it fashion. Could be taken completely the wrong way, though i initially saw crayons.

The only surprise is that some TRA hasn't reposted it with a "Coming to a TERF near you soon!" caption... (Actually, I'm not betting on that one.)