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The Paddy Power open-top bus at Brighton Pride.
‘Paddy Power sent an empty open-top bus to Brighton Pride, claiming it to be the “official bus of gay professional footballers”.’ Photograph: Tristan Fewings/Getty Images
‘Paddy Power sent an empty open-top bus to Brighton Pride, claiming it to be the “official bus of gay professional footballers”.’ Photograph: Tristan Fewings/Getty Images

Woke-washing brands cash in on social justice. It’s lazy and hypocritical

This article is more than 5 years old
Arwa Mahdawi

Advertisers are preying on our consciences - although that does signal the world is changing, however slowly

How do you do, fellow kids? It is me, a #brand, and I want you to know that I’m not interested in selling you stuff, I’m here to save the world. You see, I am not just a car company, I am fighting for gender equality. I am not just flogging shampoo, I am championing diversity. I am not just a betting company, I am crusading for LGBT rights.

In the past, there were a few brands that wore their politics on their sleeves, be it Benetton or The Body Shop – however cosmetic some of those causes may have been. But now you can’t move for right-on capitalism – in an attempt to connect with millennials proven to be drawn to, and willing to spend more money on, socially conscious products. Which means modern brands have started using progressive values as a marketing ploy and are appropriating social activism as a form of advertising. It’s like the “greenwashing” of yore, but on a whole other level. We have, I’m afraid, entered a nauseating new age of woke-washing.

For a recent case of woke-washing in action, please see Paddy Power. The often-exploitative gambling industry isn’t known for championing social justice; however, last weekend Paddy Power sent an empty open-top bus, claiming it to be the “official bus of gay professional footballers”, to Brighton Pride, to make a statement about the “statistical anomaly” that none of the top 500 Premier League players are out and proud. The betting company said the campaign was designed to “encourage gay players to step up and come out, not just for themselves, but for the millions of LGBTQ fans and athletes worldwide that need a role model”.

That may seem all well and good, but, as Stonewall, a prominent LGBT rights group, noted, pressuring people to come out is problematic and “speculating over why people don’t come out ignores the many valid reasons someone may have for not being open about their sexuality”. The Paddy Power stunt, although seemingly well-intentioned, laid bare an embarrassing eagerness among corporations to profit from social causes without putting in the time and resources to address the issues in meaningful ways.

Paddy Power’s social justice slip-up is nothing compared to other brands, however. Take South Korean fashion brand, Stylenanda, which recently Photoshopped a model’s hand black; an attempt to show that the brand is for everyone! Unfortunately for Stylenanda they also Photoshopped the model’s palm black and, as the internet quickly pointed out, black people don’t have black palms.

And who could forget last year’s infamous Kendall Jenner/Pepsi ad, which co-opted the Black Lives Matters movement in the most tone-deaf way imaginable? Kalle Lasn, editor of the anti-consumerist publication Adbusters, summed up the overwhelmingly negative response to the Pepsi ad when he described it as “the highest order mindfuck I’ve ever seen – the Donald Trump of commercial advertising”.

Fearless Girl: ‘The much-lauded sculpture was commissioned by State Street Global Advisors... it transpired that the fund was accused of underpaying its female employees.’ Photograph: Mark Lennihan/AP

Then there is Fearless Girl. The much-lauded sculpture was commissioned by State Street Global Advisors to advertise an index fund featuring companies with a high percentage of female leadership. In a completely predictable twist of fate, it transpired that State Street was accused of underpaying its female employees. Similarly, Audi spent millions on a feminist Super Bowl spot last year, which proclaimed: “Audi of America is committed to equal pay for equal work.” As many people quickly pointed out, Audi has no women on its executive team. You’ve got to hire women before you pay them equally, you know.

As well as big companies jumping on the social justice brandwagon, you have startups expressly designed to profit off progressiveness. Feminist Apparel, for example, is an online retailer which sells T-shirts and totes featuring phrases such as “cats against catcalls” and “pizza rolls not gender roles”. In June, the company’s staff discovered that the founder and chief executive, Alan Martofel, had admitted to a history of abusing women. The staff asked Martofel to resign; he responded by firing all of his employees. Martofel justified this by saying his company “exists in the weird space of feminism and business”.

Woke-washing is not just lazy and hypocritical, it can be harmful; it sanitises toxic business practices. However, that doesn’t mean the trend is entirely negative. There is something to be said for the fact that big companies feel compelled to don a progressive veneer. Advertising shapes our ideas about society and when big brands such as Paddy Power make a stand, even a ham-fisted one, for gay rights it can send a powerful message. At the very least, we should take solace from the fact that we seem to have moved from an advertising ethos of “sex sells” to “social justice sells”. Even when it is disingenuous, the more progressive messaging out there, the better. “Every little helps”, as I believe the courageous civil rights activist Tesco once said.

Arwa Mahdawi is a Guardian columnist

More on this story

More on this story

  • Unilever boss says brands using 'woke-washing' destroy trust

  • Woke-washing: how brands are cashing in on the culture wars

  • Woke washing? How brands like Gillette turn profits by creating a conscience

  • Woke business: have big brands found a conscience or a marketing ploy?

  • Dove apologises for ad showing black woman turning into white one

  • How beauty giant Dove went from empowering to patronising

  • If Dove expects women to cheer up, it hasn’t been paying attention

  • Sorry Dove, empowerment isn’t a personal care product

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