Have You Been Tricked by Rainbow Washing?
How to know and what to do about it
Rainbows — I’ve almost gotten run over because of them.
As a bisexual woman, I used to get really excited when I saw the Pride flag included on websites, taped on store windows or embroidered on clothing.
It was never a quick aww that’s awesome and on with my day kind of thing.
No, I’m talking about a stop in the middle of the street, whip out my phone, snap three pictures from different angles, sprint to the sidewalk and post an Instagram story kind of excited.
Seeing the Pride flag, especially outside the month of June, gave me all kinds of warm fuzzies and made me think ABC company sure is nice to support us!
And I’m not the only one. While researching this article, I polled members of the LGBTQ community about businesses displaying the flag. Many said they view these businesses as accepting, inclusive, welcoming and caring. In addition, they “appreciate the effort” and “are grateful for their [businesses’] support”
It seemed like everything was roses (or rainbows). But as a trained writer and a born skeptic, I knew there was more to the story.
That’s when I realized I’d been tricked
Remember how I was willing to get sideswiped just to get a rainbow shot for Instagram? Yeah, it turns out that might not have been worth it.
While some companies put their money where their mouth is, there’s just as many, if not more, looking for a quick way to make some serious bucks off the LGBTQ community’s love of rainbows.
To be fair, I had an inkling about corporate profiteering in the LGBTQ market even before I even knew the term rainbow washing.
While writing an article about the benefits of marketing to the LGBTQ community, I learned the purchasing power of LGBTQ consumers (referred to as the pink dollar) was worth upwards of $1 trillion.
Yep, somebody was definitely profiting off of that.
I’m not the first one to realize this. There’s a growing awareness of rainbow washing within the LGBTQ community, but those on the outside remain ignorant for the most part.
So much so that the best definition I found for rainbow washing comes from Urban Dictionary of all places. They define it as…
“The act of using or adding rainbow colors and/or imagery to advertising, apparel, accessories, landmarks… in order to indicate progressive support for LGBTQ equality (and earn consumer credibility) — but with a minimum of effort or pragmatic result.”
If you’re still a bit lost, no worries. Let’s take a real-life example.
In 2019, British retailer Marks&Spencer (M&S) decided to show their support for the LGBTQ community by creating a lettuce, guacamole, bacon and tomato sandwich. LGBT — get it, get it? Nah, me neither.
M&S was eviscerated on social media. And rightly so. There’s absolutely zero connection between a £4.50 pre-made sandwich and decades of oppression of LGBTQ people. This was a cash grab, pure and simple.
I should mention that M&S donated profits from the sandwiches. The Albert Kennedy Trust, a charity supporting homeless LGBTQ youth, received £10,000, while BeLongYouth Service in Ireland got £1,000.
Again, sounds nice, but why can’t a company who reported £84.6 million in pre-tax profits donate all of the sandwich profits to charity? Moreover, journalist Owen Jones suggested paying LGBTQ employees a living wage and not opening stores in countries with anti-LGBTQ laws on the books would be much more relevant ways to support the community.
Why rainbow washing is such a big deal
As a member of the LGBTQ community, I didn’t need much convincing to see how opportunistic rainbow washing is.
But if you’re not a part of the community, you might be wondering should I really be surprised? Aren’t corporations always doing sh!t like this to make money? So they splash a little color on their logo and introduce a rainbow t-shirt— what’s the harm in that?
The harm comes from the intention and the pandering.
One of the biggest issues is that most Pride campaigns are ephemeral gestures devoid of substance.
Take a study conducted by Reboot Online. They found only 64% of companies with a Pride campaign donated money to LGBTQ causes. Sixty-four percent sounds okay, but again, can’t multimillion-dollar companies afford to donate 100% of their profits from one campaign, once a year?
On top of that, in borrowing the rainbow logo to push products, companies minimize the challenges faced by the LGBTQ community and overshadow the efforts of true LGBTQ allies.
For those of us in the community, the rainbow flag is a symbol reminding us of the struggles we faced in the past, face now and will face in the future — struggles like the criminalization of homosexuality, the medicalization of homosexuality and anti-LGBTQ violence.
Even worse than co-opting our symbol, some companies with Pride campaigns actively contribute to anti-LGBTQ causes and politicians.
AT&T is just one example. In 2018, AT&T donated $1 million to The Trevor Project, a suicide hotline for LGBTQ youth. The telecom giant also pledged $675,000 worth of products and services to assist the organization with its crisis interventions.
They, of course, made the announcement on June 1st, which is probably a good PR strategy, but to me just looks like a cry for attention. What they didn’t mention is they, along with other “pro-LGBTQ” corporations (UPS, Comcast, GE), have donated nearly $15 million to anti-LGBTQ politicians like Rep. Jim Jordan and Rep. Brian Babin.
Using the rainbow colors to cover up hypocrisy is shameful, pure and simple.
What you can do to stop rainbow washing
Now that you know what rainbow washing is and see the problems with it, I hope you’re just as committed to ending it as I am. Check out these suggestions to help you identify which companies are genuine allies.
Look at the calendar
See when a company mentions its pro-LGBTQ initiatives. If it’s only in June, there’s a good chance their support is just a marketing strategy to look good for Pride Month.
If however, they repeatedly discuss their internal LGBTQ initiatives, volunteer with local LGBTQ organizations and financially contribute to them on a regular basis, there’s a much better chance their policies are authentic.
Pay attention to marketing
Observe a company’s LGBTQ marketing materials. Are they using the brightest, flashiest rainbow to make their point about being gay-friendly? Does the slogan reference “pride” or “ being proud” with discussing what that actually means? Do the advertisements contribute to the dialogue about LGBTQ rights? If the answers to those questions are yes, yes and no, it’s likely nothing more than rainbow washing.
Marketing highlighting real-life LGBTQ people — and not just cis-gendered gay men either — are more authentic and highlight a genuine attempt at LGBTQ inclusiveness.
Check out company policies
Head to The Human Rights Campaign and see how different companies score on the Corporate Equality Index. This metric scores companies on their LGBTQ policies like workplace protections, inclusive benefits and corporate social responsibility. The higher the score, the better the commitment.
Notice how they handle controversies
Take note of how companies react when they’re attacked by anti-LGBTQ groups. Do they stick to their principles or do they fold under the pressure?
Look at Hallmark. When the conservative, anti-LGBTQ group One Million Moms put pressure on Hallmark Channel to remove ads featuring a lesbian wedding, the company complied.
Soon after the ads were pulled, the LGBTQ community took to Twitter to show their outrage. In just two days, the hashtags #boycotthallmark and #BoycottHallmarkChannel were used over 8,000 times.
Amidst the backlash, the media giant put the ads back on air and issued an apology for removing them in the first place.
While Hallmark Channel ultimately made the right decision, the damage was done. Censoring the ads showed a lack of commitment to standing up for the LGBTQ community and demonstrates their decisions are based on whichever group is shouting the loudest, rather than on the principles of fairness and equality.
So Pride cards at Hallmark? Not so much.
Supporting true LGBTQ allies
Being a true ally for the LGBTQ community is hard work. It involves repeated, consistent efforts to ensure a company’s internal culture, marketing campaigns and goals are aligned.
Companies that undertake these initiatives and strive to reach these ideals are the only ones worthy of displaying the rainbow flag and the only ones you should be supporting.
In my case, I’ve stopped frantically snapping pictures whenever I see a rainbow. And I no longer rely on them to inform my buying decisions. I encourage you to do the same.
Yes, it takes more time, but research how companies spend their money, how they treat LGBTQ employees, what their marketing says and how they react to anti-LGBTQ rhetoric. Support companies that have been consistent in their fight for LGBTQ equality and ignore the ones that are have co-opted a beautiful symbol as a mindless marketing tool.
You’ll notice I didn’t give names of companies doing things right. That’s intentional. I purposely withheld the names of LGBTQ corporate champions because the first step to becoming an ally is educating yourself. So, find out which companies deserve your money and go out to support them.
Before you go, tell me — what will you do to become a better LGBTQ ally? Leave a comment and let’s chat!
