But here’s the counter-argument: that this is actually “woke-washing” – or profit-driven companies cynically cashing in on people’s idealism and using progressive-orientated marketing campaigns to deflect questions about their own ethical records. Some would argue that if it brings an issue to the public’s attention, or helps show mainstream support for the marginalised, does the motive matter? In the case of the sandwich, AKT (formerly the Albert Kennedy Trust) – a charity that supports homeless young LGBTQ people – will undoubtedly find good use for the £10,000 being donated by M&S. The Co-Op, meanwhile, has launched a gender-neutral gingerbread person in the name of “inclusion and diversity”, asking shoppers to suggest an appropriate name for it.īut we are not just talking about the culinary world: Gillette notoriously launched an advert inspired by #MeToo’s challenge to toxic masculinity in January Colin Kaepernick, a US football player and civil rights activist who sank to his knee rather than sing the national anthem to protest against police racism, became the face of a Nike campaign last September. Earlier this month in the US, Burger King launched its #FeelYourWay campaign to mark Mental Awareness month, partly trolling its chief competitor, McDonald’s Happy Meals, by selling products such as a “Blue Meal” or a “Pissed Meal” (because you don’t always have to be happy to eat there). ![]() There is no shortage of examples today of profit-driven companies deploying good causes for advertising purposes. Depressingly, there were signs it worked: polling in California in the aftermath of the campaign suggested people regarded Chevron as the oil giant they trusted most to protect the environment. It was perhaps the most egregious example of “greenwashing”: when polluting corporates would use the climate crisis as a PR exercise, showing themselves to be cavorting with wildlife and saving the planet, to deflect from their unsound record, purely so environmentally conscious consumers would keep buying their products. Marks & Spencer’s LGBT sandwich provoked an online backlash earlier this month Photograph: Publicity Imageīack in the 80s, when activists succeeded in driving the environment on to the public agenda, the oil company Chevron launched an advertising campaign flaunting its extremely dubious green credentials. But has this fast food giant really joined the anti-fascist resistance? When police asked McDonald’s to stop selling milkshakes in Edinburgh during a visit by Nigel Farage – following the “milkshaking” of far-right activists – Burger King cheekily announced to the “people of Scotland” that they were “selling milkshakes all weekend”. This week, Lacoste announced it would swap its trademark crocodile logo for 10 limited-edition polo shirts featuring a different endangered species instead it was soon pointed out that the company was offering “gloves made from deer leather” and “cow leather handbags” online. ![]() ![]() How did we arrive at a point where sandwich packaging is debated on daytime TV?īrands are increasingly flirting with the realm of politics. ![]() I wasn’t, and neither were any of the others they asked, so this fixture of daytime television settled on a former associate of David Icke, who proceeded to rant about trans people. When Marks & Spencer launched its LGBT sandwich – basically, your classic BLT with some gay guacamole thrown in – I, along with a list of other LGBTQ commentators, was asked by ITV’s This Morning if I was offended by the sandwich.
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