Major brands, like Jack Daniel’s, are turning back the diversity clock. The anti-woke trend is indicative of the polarization in the US, which is increasingly reflected in advertising and communications. Not only for Marketing the Rainbow, but also for other forms of diversity. The policy introduced after Black Lives Matter is also partly reversed.
Bud Light
In the wake of last year’s ‘Bud Light Drama’, several American brands are changing not only their corporate diversity policies, but also their marketing campaigns. This mainly concerns brands that are traditionally seen as ‘macho’, such as: Harley Davidson, machine manufacturers Tractor Supply and John Deere and the DIY chain Lowes.
The latest defector is Ford, who announced last month that he would give up on diversity, with the excuse of wanting to “create an environment where we can all do our best work, based on respect and inclusivity.” But loyal ally Molson Coors (beer) and retailer Target also turned the switch.
A number of fringe extreme conservatives jubilantly claimed victory for their efforts:
The business community must be liberated from ‘left-wing terror’.
But of course there is more to it than the grumbling of influencers, because an ‘extremist’ with 11,000 followers (who was also anti-face mask, for example) does not outweigh a Taylor Swift with more than half a billion followers. The positive sound she makes is not picked up by those brands; because it concerns “13-year-old girls”, according to Mick Huckabee.
Alcohol
The Alcoholics sector has been a sector in which heavy attention has been paid to the rainbow consumer for years (see for example my article ‘Da’s Sterk’). This also applies to the drinks company Brown-Forman, known for Jack Daniel’s, Southern Comfort and Finlandia. Where a few years ago they celebrated Pride exuberantly with drag queens, this year they sail along on the ‘get woke, go broke’-trend. Until recently they were even considered one of the “Best Places to Work” on the list of the LGBT organization Human Rights Campaign.
DE&I
In 2019, they proudly launched their Diversity, Equity & Inclusion (DE&I) strategy. That was quite late – most companies had already woken up in the big turning year of 2015 – but it did not take long. A few great campaigns later, and the company is influenced by loud voices on social media. They said last month:
We believe we should incorporate diverse perspectives and experiences into our decisions and practices. For these reasons and more, we launched our diversity and inclusion strategy in 2019. Since then, the world has evolved, our business has changed, and the legal and external landscape has changed dramatically, especially in the United States. With this new dynamic, we need to adapt our work so that we appropriately take into account the current environment we find ourselves in.
In other words: ‘Help, someone thinks we’re too woke’.
They indicated that they will stop linking executive compensation to progress in diversity. The DEI page on the Brown-Forman website was removed immediately. All DEI training was halted. Participation in the Human Rights Campaign’s Corporate Equality Index survey was ended.
This is regrettable, but also striking, because in those few years they showed their diversity side loudly and colorfully.
Jack Daniel’s
Already in 2018, before the introduction of the official policy, Jack – as an official sponsor – participated in LA Pride with the #FlavorsOfPride mobile video art installation. The truck featured a spectacular multimedia experience, with video mapping, capture technology and three-dimensional mannequins. Not just a car with decorations, so time, creativity and money went into this.
The 2020 campaign was called ‘Drag Queen Mukbang’. This was supported with a series of videos of drag queens, famous from the legendary RuPaul shows, among others. Once again it wasn’t just ‘something with the rainbow’, but all the stops were pulled out with it campste part of the LGBT community.
The campaign was also explicitly intended to support the rainbow community. They worked together with no fewer than five LGBTcharitiesunder which GLAAD and local transgender organizations in the redneck Tennessee, where Jack is located. The conservative south has the most difficulty with freedom, equality, brotherhood, so it was very significant that such a campaign was suddenly launched there. Even with the two most controversial topics: drag queens and trans people.
Then the argument was:
In these divided times, it’s easy to forget that we often have more in common than things that separate us. For example, who would have thought that three famous drag queens would be embraced by the people of Lynchburg, Tennessee, home of the Jack Daniel’s Brewery?
In 2021, in honor of Pride month, Jack Daniel’s presented the series, ‘Drag Queen Summer Glamp’, once again featuring three extravagant drag queens planning a Pride celebration on the distillery grounds.
Southern Comfort
Another brand from the Brown-Forman portfolio, Southern Comfort, has also happily participated in recent years – together with LGBT+ collective Sink The Pink. Aboard a vintage Mississippi paddle steamer, London Pride was celebrated in 2020 and 2021 with a New Orleans-inspired party. There were drag queens and Vogue dancers.
Much earlier, in 1995, and later in 2003, they did Marketing the Rainbow on an ad hoc basis – in those cases it was advertising in relevant print magazines.
So…
Is that all going to change now? We’ll see. In any case, progress, especially in the US, is being reversed somewhat. But progress is rarely linear, so hopefully we’ll see another movement forward in some time. If Project 2025 goes ahead, it will take a little longer. After all, politics is an important factor influencing marketing and communication. The elections in the US require more than their full attention from all parties, so reactions to the developments outlined are largely absent. I hold my breath.
Source: www.frankwatching.com
