Beyond the rainbow mirage: Empty gestures vs authentic advocacy

During International Pride Month, brands often don rainbow colours to display support for the LGBTQ+ community. However, these vibrant displays frequently fail to translate into meaningful action. 

The belief is that brands tend to limit their advocacy to superficial logo changes or short-lived campaigns, disregarding crucial issues such as voicing out their opinion on the marriage equality act or nurturing inclusivity within their organisations.

In the age of social media, consumers have become adept at spotting inauthentic advocacy, promptly calling out brands that engage in fake rainbow washing. Such moment marketing pursuits undermine the efforts of real activists and allies but also expose brands to public scrutiny and backlash.

To shed light on this issue, Campaign India spoke with brands and agencies to uncover how they can genuinely support the LGBTQ+ community and cultivate enduring brand advocacy. 

Genuine advocacy beyond rainbow hues

Aditya Mehendale, national creative director, Schbang, criticises the tokenistic nature of occasion-themed campaigns and emphasises the need for a broader mindset shift. 

"The unfortunate reality is that support for the community is shown largely only during pride. Like any occasion-themed campaign, it seems tokenistic, which is particularly true of campaigns about the LGBTQ+ community too," said Mehendale.

Harshada Menon, group creative director, DDB Mudra, stresses the need for LGBTQ+ representation in everyday, functional advertisements. 

"It is great to see the LGBTQ+ community accepted with each passing day. The fact that so many brands are acknowledging pride month is proof of that. However, I can’t recollect ads that have supported the cause outside of this month. Real change would be when we start seeing LGBTQ+ representation in our everyday, functional advertisements," expressed Menon.

Anupama Ramaswamy, chief creative officer, Havas Worldwide India, shares the same sentiments about representation. 

She explains, "Brands see this more as a moment marketing opportunity than a year-long activity. However, if you look at global content, both movies and OTT - the overall inclusive imagery is becoming part of the main narrative." 

Mitesh Kothari, co-founder and chief creative officer, White Rivers Media, pointed out that consistent support for the queer community needs to move beyond a specific month. 

Kothari conveyed, "Selected brands recognise the importance of a year-round approach towards the inclusivity of the LGBTQ+ community not just in their advertising efforts but also from the viewpoint of genuine support. The diversity and inclusivity of the LGBTQ+ community are not limited to a precise month. The month is meant to specifically observe and recognise the impact that the community has had in the world. While we may focus on distinct campaigns or special product releases during this month, there should be overall inclusion and consistent support throughout the year."

Sudhir Das, group executive creative director, Dentsu Creative India, noted that brands are trying their best to foster change. 

He said, "There has been an increasing number of initiatives throughout the year, from Holi campaigns to art projects, demonstrating a shift towards year-round inclusivity efforts. While there’s a definite spike during Pride Month, we now see initiatives as diverse as SpiceJet's Holi initiative from a few years back to Uber Auto Art on World Art Day."

Pride over pinkwashing

Highlighting how the brand's inclusivity and authenticity endeavours are rooted in its core values, Anukool Kumar, marketing director, Tinder India, said, "We have supported the representation of queer narratives in popular culture, especially stories of love, romance, partnership, and all the little sparks in between in all our campaigns. We aim to ensure that our team and talent for all our campaigns are representatives of our diverse and inclusive member base. We strive to always cast a range of ethnicities, members of the LGBTQIA+ community, and body diversity. Through our campaigns and community initiatives, we seek to bridge that gap and create digital and IRL (in real life) spaces for people of the community to explore dating and relationships." 

Joseph Fernandes, senior vice president, head - people and capability, Mastercard South Asia, underlines the organisation's commitment to diversity beyond gender and race. 

Fernandes explained, "We strive for diversity of thought, background, experiences, and abilities. Aligned with these core values, we focus on crafting robust policies and solutions that attempt to break down barriers which hinder equity, fairness, and diversity. Our recruitment processes reinforce fairness and equal opportunity. Besides comprehensive insurance benefits and ample resources for holistic well-being, the organisation offers a generous 16-week leave for new parents that applies to same-sex and live-in partners as well. Pride, our employee-led Business Resource Group (BRG) aims to promote a more inclusive environment for our LGBTQ+ employees by driving more awareness, acceptance and allyship at the workplace and beyond."

Kartik Mohindra, chief marketing officer, Pernod Ricard India, discusses how Absolut Glassware advocates for inclusivity and diversity, deeply rooted in the belief that a world without biases is essential. 

"We are embracing a comprehensive approach to inclusivity. By exploring the complexities of LGBTQIA+ issues, we consistently strive for a positive impact throughout the year. Authentic representation of the queer community remains our focus. The recent campaign, 'Be an #AbsolutAlly', co-created with ten influential voices across the LGBTQIA+ spectrum, including Dutee Chand and Anjali Lama, emphasises allyship and educates people on pronouns," he said.

How creative agencies are bridging the gap between brand and inclusivity

To move beyond surface-level advocacy, creative agencies are urging their clients to take proactive steps. 

Ramaswamy states that there's been a huge shift from when brands were hesitant to include LGBTQIA+ because they worried they would experience backlash from anti-voices. 

However, Ramaswamy pointed out that brands and advertisers are concerned about responses from the LGBTQIA+ community over the authenticity of their campaigns. She shared, “If you look around on some of the recommended images in major image banks, they also include LGBTQIA+ people of different ages, of different gender identities and different races, to better depict the full diversity and intersectionality of queer people. Agencies are recommending that LGBTQIA+ people be included in advertising. Those in the marketing sphere must hire and promote people who are a part of the community. If you're hiring [them], that's what's going to change the game, because then it's going to be done from the heart, and it's going to be real.”

Accenture reported that 79% of LGBTQIA+ employees have indicated that their career growth has slowed because of their gender identity and sexual orientation.

Menon accentuates the significance of creating a culture of diversity and inclusion within organisations. This includes recruiting with diversity in mind, implementing mentorship programs for underrepresented groups, and providing consistent training to mitigate unconscious bias. 

Menon stated, "Organisations should have mentorship programs for employees from under-represented groups. And consistently train all employees to keep unconscious bias out. To truly become positive partners of the LGBTQ+ community, brands need to bring about change inside their boardrooms while advertising change outside."

Mehendale calls on agencies to inquire about clients' internal policies related to inclusion before engaging in a narrative brief. If the internal policies do not align with the external message, Mehendale believes agencies should have the courage to walk away. 

"Pride stories are important because, in the larger gamut of stories we tell as a race, the community is severely under-represented. However, while efforts made by brands to tell those stories are not authentic, they will always be seen as performative. It would be refreshing to see agencies workshop with a client, not on a brand narrative but instead on the more unglamorous aspect of internal policies," commented Mehendale. 

Das acknowledges that many brands have a genuine commitment to inclusivity internally. He expressed, "Brands, at least the ones on our roster, are a lot more inclusive than we give them credit for. Where creative agencies come in is to help them realise that these views are important not just to them but to consumers as well. And it's not always about proving a point about their struggles or how brave they are. A simple realisation that cishet people don't always need to be the default cast of your commercial helps."

Fostering genuine brand advocacy

Menon suggests that there is a need for creative agencies to delve into the core of each brand when it comes to queer advocacy. 

"By understanding a brand's values and history of supporting the LGBTQ+ community, agencies can create more powerful work. While agencies can assist with internal communications to promote inclusivity, it is ultimately the responsibility of the organisation to create inclusive workplaces with supportive policies," said Menon. 

Kothari stressed going beyond marketing agendas and evaluating their internal policies to support the LGBTQ+ community. 

He stated, "Normalising and choosing the right language for messaging can make a big difference in showcasing unceasing support. Fostering platforms for discussions and education must be a routine culture. Thoughtful collaborations with the community along with support for its causes in the form of donations, event sponsorships, etc. should be encouraged all through the year and not just in one particular month."

Mehendale suggests conducting an inclusion audit as a starting point for agencies. 

He shared, "A policy audit can help identify gaps, standout practices, and opportunities to reform and add new policies. Today there’s a lot more to be done when it comes to brands achieving true congruence between intent and action."

Ramaswamy noted that savvy consumers are aware of whether its ads feature the community year-round, and whether it hires LGBTQIA+ individuals and puts them in leadership positions. 

“If the brand doesn't support the queer community, the brand sentiment falls flat. Using corporate clout to make broader changes is where companies can be truly helpful and bring about change,” shared Ramaswamy. 

Das acknowledges the power of social media in granting visibility to consumers' concerns and shedding light on brands' social causes. 

"In this digital age, brands are no longer defined solely by their products or services; they are evaluated based on their actions, values, and overall impact. As brands strive to adapt and thrive in this new paradigm, they must embrace the understanding that their actions speak louder than words, and their true essence extends far beyond their offerings,” concluded Das.