Rainbow washing
Business Daily
BBC
4.4 • 816 Ratings
🗓️ 18 August 2022
⏱️ 19 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
It might seem like a step forward when advertisers want to appeal to a historically marginalised community, but the use of the LGBT rainbow flag by companies and organisations has become a bone of contention.
If an investment company changes its logo to a rainbow background is that a genuine attempt to support LGBT rights, or a cynical marketing ploy? In short, is it rainbow washing?
Jamie Love, marketing director of Edinburgh Pride tells us how potential event sponsors are vetted, plus Leticia King James who’s the vice president of diversity inclusion and belonging at logistics giant GXO explains why her company is sponsoring small, regional Pride events.
We also hear from Kathy Caton, founder of Brighton Gin who explains why a 365 day commitment to diversity is vital for companies marketing to the LGBT community. Julia Smith-Eppsteiner, a senior strategist at branding company Future Brand explains how accusations of rainbow washing can be avoided and Paul Thompson, co-owner of LGBT Capital explains just how lucrative the LGBT market is.
Presenter: Elizabeth Hotson Producer: Elizabeth Hotson
Picture Description: Pride in London 2022, Picture Credit: Getty Images
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | The way that we interact with food, the beliefs that we have around food, the emotions that food hold, because food isn't just fuel, it has all of these other things. |
| 0:08.4 | In short, we are going to talk about food. |
| 0:11.5 | The food chain is the podcast with a love of all things food. |
| 0:15.7 | Something that is so much part of me. |
| 0:17.8 | Each week we take a deep dive into a story centered around food. Adventure into other |
| 0:23.3 | cultures. I look at the food as a kind of a global smogers board on which I can choose and pick. |
| 0:30.0 | Every place has their own rituals about it. Multiple identities full of possibilities. |
| 0:35.3 | The food chain from the BBC World Service. |
| 0:38.5 | Just search for The Food Chain, wherever you found this podcast. |
| 0:44.6 | Hello and welcome to Business Daily on the BBC. |
| 0:48.3 | I'm Elizabeth Hotson and on today's program I'll be looking at the concept of rainbow |
| 0:52.7 | washing, the cynical use of the LGBT rainbow symbol to sell stuff. |
| 0:58.3 | What I want as a queer person is to be sure that we're queer all year, not gay for a day. |
| 1:04.2 | If someone's branding something as a pride addition, they're really authentic with that. |
| 1:10.1 | And why LGBT consumers are so valuable to companies. |
| 1:14.6 | We have an estimated GDP spending power for the LGBT community of around $4 trillion US dollars. |
| 1:23.8 | That's all in Business Daily from the BBC. |
| 1:29.1 | We're going to start today's program with some Swedish-flavored domesticity. |
| 1:34.0 | Well, you know, we went to IKEA because we thought it was time for a serious dining room table. |
| 1:38.5 | We were slightly different tastes. I mean, Steve is more into country. |
| 1:41.6 | It frightens me, but at the same time, I have compassion. |
| 1:44.0 | We've been together about three years. |
... |
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