Burger King might have been the worst corporate signer for Pride Month this year.
This country has made it a tradition that June brings an avalanche of corporate activism to make Pride Month more meaningful. Multi-hued logos are being used by companies to rebrand. They release products with rainbow patterns or use boilerplate messaging to declare their inclusion of everyone.
This is a sensitive topic. I must declare that I do not have any personal issues and I take offense at companies who make these gestures. It doesn’t affect me. To be fair, there are times when the genuflecting or pandering is downright absurd, while others can be quite amusing.
Remains one of my favorite pride conversions. pic.twitter.com/rugDJ5uC1M
— Brad Slager 🍸🥃🍺🎙 Lifetime Subscriber to CNN+ (@MartiniShark) June 9, 2022
An annual tradition is to find out which moves are used for displaying woke pride. There are many displays that sound great in the boardroom but leave a Crayola Box mark instead. These sloppy attempts should be laughed at.
While Purina may want to make it clear that they are open to LGBTQ customers and employees, the end result could also be that they support LGBT pets. The British grocery chain released a Lettuce, Guacamole, Bacon, and Tomato Club in a rainbow box. It was their LGBT sandwich, it seems. Chipotle’s ”Burritos or Tacos” attempt was next, and it reduced the food to infantile with all its attached food euphemisms.
There were some notable launches this year on June 1. The US Marine Corps made a splash with its holiday display. Although many took offense, it was not for the right reasons. While some pointed out the history of gays serving in the military, others did not see the offense in bullets painted with rainbow colors. This is not in line with the standards of the corps. Soldiers are taught to work as a team and operate as one unit. This concept is at odds with the idea of segregating a subgroup.
Throughout June, the USMC takes #Pride in recognizing and honoring the contributions of our LGBTQ service members. We remain committed to fostering an environment free from discrimination, and defend the values of treating all equally, with dignity and respect.#PrideMonth #USMC pic.twitter.com/MOyvFmyJiB
— U.S. Marines (@USMC) June 1, 2022
The Marines must be pleased that Burger King took the initiative and turned their attention to their company. The Pride Whopper was offered by the Austrian burger chain. This is the classic hamburger, but you can also choose to have matching buns.
Burger King’s Austrian stores will be serving a “Pride Whopper” — which comes with either two top buns or two bottom buns to promote “equal love and equal rights”https://t.co/FlQ9uG4iHd
— CNN (@CNN) June 7, 2022
When it comes to gay issues, it might be best to avoid anything that involves buns. We get the intention here. Having matching bread is a way to reflect gay relationships. However, did anyone realize that if the same-seed marriage was used on the burger, it would cause people to declare their preference for being a top or bottom?
Others companies are also being criticized for their innocuous nature. Although it is natural to convert the rainbow logo to show support for LGBTQ communities, this has also led to challenges. These companies are well-known internationally, but they don’t alter their trademarks in countries that do not allow gay lifestyles.
Lmao pic.twitter.com/bwxaKa5biC
— Alana Mastrangelo (@ARmastrangelo) June 1, 2022
Retributions can come back at any company, even if they do everything right this month. This makes it difficult to see the point of doing anything. They have been a part of Amazon’s support system for years. An internal group of LGBT employees established a group called Glamazon years ago as a support system for the company. This would seem to show that the company supports them. However, a group of employees staged a protest outside the corporate headquarters. Their problem? They are against the idea that the company sells books on the trans community.
Electronic Arts were the target of a protest by employees over its rainbow-colored corporate logo. But the anger flowed in the other direction. Electronic Arts have been a supporter of the LGBTQ community for many years. However, recent internal documents showed that employees were dissatisfied with EA’s corporate activism.
They claimed that the company was engaging in self-serving gestures, which led to an interesting conclusion that the protest was averted.
Although the walkout appeared imminent, an EA employee informed GamesIndustry.biz later that the event was canceled. This was reported because EA leadership promised not to use a rainbow-colored variant of its corporate logos during Pride month.
It would seem almost like Electronic Arts has found a loophole that other companies could copy. If your company does not have enough support language, employees may demand that you stop participating in Pride Month. This is also insulation because if any group complains, the CEO can explain that they are doing it at the request of LGBTQ workers.
