Dear brands, we are more than just a tagline

For countless years, they seemed blind to all the heinous acts that occurred and were publicized across the globe. Now that the Black Lives Matter movement has taken center stage in the public discourse, brands are finally speaking out. It’s as if the floodgates have opened and we see every brand has a catchy post, tagline, or what seems to be a copy and paste public statement for racial injustice. While some brands are using this as a wake-up call to do better, others are not taking the actions needed to back up their bold statements.

Brands that understand

When it comes to messaging, Nike and Ben and Jerrys took no time to make statements showing their support for Black Lives Matter. Nike created the “Don’t Do It” campaign, which uses the brand’s iconic tagline to invoke action against social injustice and inequality. 

Following this, Nike also announced a $40 million commitment over four years to support organizations focused on social justice, education, and racial inequality in the U.S. Nike has also provided their efforts within diversity and inclusion in the Nike Impact Report. 

I was not surprised that Nike would be the first brand to speak out as they took a stance back in 2018, and created a powerful ad with the controversial NFL player Colin Kapernick.  

Ben and Jerry’s took a more bold approach and called out White Supremacy and efforts to dismantle it. The statement included an image and a concrete 4-part action plan to execute this initiative. The plan calls for action from our current president, Congress, and the department of justice to create task forces and reinvigorate its civil rights division. 

Ben and Jerry's have a strong history of supporting social justice and political progress. 

In 2016, Ben and Jerry’s supported the BLM movement with blog posts such as Why Black Lives matter and 7 ways we know systemic racism is real. Ben and Jerry’s uses education and ice cream flavors (Pecan Resist, EmpowerMINT, and I Dough, I Dough), to support the environment, women, people of color, and marriage equality. 

The Dangers of Performative Allyship

Staying silent is not an answer, and companies are feeling the pressure to speak up and take action. The bandwagon effect is in full force, as brands scramble for public statements, and funds to donate to black organizations. Most recently, many companies made Juneteeth a corporate holiday and gave their employees paid time off. 

But is this enough?

Some companies think their work is done, and have fallen victim to performative allyship. Performative allyship, also called performative activism, is associated with surface efforts for political or social change. It is an empty statement or promise made by a company with little to no course of action to follow. It allows companies to capitalize on a movement or trend, to “save face” without really being behind the cause itself. Companies use their statements as a bailout, and a way to shield themselves from tarnishing their reputations. 

In a recent blog post, Kate Martell highlights seven consequences of performative allyship:

1. It redefines the work down to hashtag activism
2. It exploits a human rights movement for corporate gain
3. It creates an illusion of progress
4. It further undermines the trust of already skeptical consumers
5. It perpetuates a cycle of hidden agendas through lobbying.
6. It drowns out the brands actually making a difference
7. It exposes our brands to enormous risk

Her seven points highlight the detrimental effects of performative allyship and the harmful impact on society. The superficial acts cause a brand to work against a movement even if the intention was to stay neutral. With so much visibility online, companies are under a microscope, and the public has access to their every move. The BLM movement calls for action, and false activism attempts will not fool the public.

Brands caught under fire

After a powerful video from NFL black players, the NFL commissioner broke his silence and acknowledged that black lives actually do matter. Many found Roger Goodwells statement a little too late because just four years ago; an athlete could be fined if they decided to kneel in protest. The league was also called out for exiling Colin Kapernick during his time of protests and ultimately blacklisting him from signing on to a new team. Furthermore, with 70% of the NFL players being black, there is an alarmingly low rate of diversity when it comes to team owners and leadership positions. 

Another company being called out for performative allyship is Amazon.

If you ask Alexa “Do black lives matter?” her response, “Black lives matter and I stand in solidarity with the Black community...”, however, Amazon shows some biases within their recruitment efforts and facial recognition products. 

Many employees have seen a lack of diversity at Amazon, and blame this on years of employing mostly white male workers, especially for corporate roles. While amazon reports 26.5% of its employees as Black/African American, a majority of this number includes its warehouse numbers. 

The company is also seeing backlash for selling facial recognition products to law enforcement. 

Facial recognition products not only raise issues on human rights and privacy abuse but racial biases as well. An independent study in 2019 analyzed the Amazons Rekognition system product and found that the system had significant issues identifying the gender of darker-skinned individuals, and would mistake darker-skinned women for men. 

Amazon responded by recently banning police departments from using this controversial facial recognition software for one year. They also urged Congress to put rules in place for this type of technology.

Other companies have been called out for showing their lack of diversity in senior leadership and how those filled roles are solely centered around Diversity and Inclusion.

Mark Ritson took things one step further to call out performative allyship and screenshot images of companies predominantly white board of directors. He placed those images next to #blacktuesday social posts from brands like L'oreal, Apple, and Spotify. #BlackTuesday took place on June 2 and called for everyone to place a black square on their social media pages. This gesture represented taking a halt on social media posting to stand against police brutality across America. The irony is that, while brands participated in a social media blackout, their board of directors represented the polar opposite, a whiteout. 

Your brand and social responsibility

Companies cannot make a public statement that black lives matter but then have questionable hiring, retention, and treatment of its black employees. Your brand and what it stands for encompasses your company’s values, missions, and vision. This is something that must be exercised both internally and externally from your employees to your customers.  

Many brands have diversity statements as part of their mission and vision but steer away from acts of activism. If your brand believes in ending systemic racism, you must find a direct connection to your core values and create a course of action to practice allyship. 

How can brands become true allies?

1) Identify there is a problem

Take a step back and access your work environment, company culture, and practices. Understand that there are problems that need to be addressed. Find the blind spots! Diversity and Inclusion efforts cannot just focus on filling a quota but must examine the root-cases that have created this problem. There are numerous consulting companies that specialize in D&I and culture assessments. Many start by identifying implicit bias through assessments such as Harvard’s IAT test. 

2) Hold yourself accountable

Once you have identified the problem, it’s time to take accountability and start education not only for yourself but for your employees. Understand that systemic racism goes beyond police brutality, and ask yourself how have you enabled a culture that accepts this. Then look within to understand why. Educate yourself and your employees! Understand that you have made mistakes. Do not point the finger, but lift up a mirror and acknowledge your part in this systemic structure.

3) Take responsibility for your actions

Recognize that you are a part of a problem and a solution and have the responsibility to do better. Your statements cannot be false promises, but a declaration to make a change. As a brand, you have a responsibility to your employees, consumers, and society. Have a point of intention that you will be accountable for. 

4) Create a course of action

Once you have made your way through these assessment and reflection steps, it’s time to take action. This is not an easy fix and should be treated as a multi-part ongoing initiative. This action should encompass education, donation, innovation, and more. Your actions should be collective efforts that leverage your company’s resources to influence change. Think about what your brand stands for and how your new course of action will align with your brand's purpose, position, promise, personality, and identity. 

The time is now for brands to speak up and be strategic. 

So for those icon brands out there, I have a few questions for you:

1. How are you going to “Think Different” in order to elevate black lives?
2. What systems will you create to “Open Happiness” for your black employees and customers?
3. When senior leadership roles open, are your black candidates truly “worth it”?

Black Lives Matter is not just a moment or a trend. It will not pass or go away. We are more than just a tagline, and we hope you will join us as true allies to combat systemic racism.