The sprawling anti-Trump resistance movement has proven to be stronger, funnier, and more creative than any American countercultural force we’ve seen in decades.
As soon as the race was called, the backlash was inevitable. And, like ants at a picnic, the marketers were not far behind. The Guardian has a rundown on the new profits of rage.
“Sex Doesn’t Sell Anymore; Activism Does. And Don’t the Big Brands Know It.”
by Alex Holder
The Guardian
February 3, 2017
Three days ago I hadn”™t heard of Lyft. Not until I was greeted on Monday morning by a right-on colleague demanding to know if I”™d deleted my Uber app and replaced it with Lyft. On Saturday #deleteuber had been trending after many believed it had undermined a taxi strike at New York”™s JFK airport protesting against Donald Trump”™s immigration ban. By Sunday, with swift marketing prowess, Lyft”™s CEO Logan Green tweeted that the company was donating $1m to the ACLU (American Civil Liberties Union). Which led to Lyft”™s downloads surpassing Ubers for the first time ever. They used to say sex sells; now, evidently, it”™s activism.
Lyft wasn”™t the only company flaunting good deeds this week. In reaction to Trump”™s immigration ban, Starbucks CEO wrote an open letter to staff committing to hiring 10,000 refugees and Airbnb”™s Brian Chesky tweeted that it was providing free accommodation to anyone not allowed in the US. Even Uber, presumably in a bid to outdo Lyft, created a $3m fund to help drivers affected by the “wrong and unjust” ban.
Companies are now attempting to outdo each other with major acts of generosity, but there”™s a catch; they”™ll do good as long as they can make sure their customers know about it. There is no room for humility when a brand does a good deed. They”™re always Larry David and never the anonymous donor.
It”™s difficult to separate the fact that while these brands are showcasing pedigree social responsibility, ultimately they are helping refugees because it sells milky lattes and cheap holiday accommodation. They can see that allocating their marketing budget to good causes has a better reach than spending that money elsewhere right now.
In the UK, people drink Kenco coffee not for its smooth blend, but because it”™s training young men in Honduras to be coffee farmers instead of gang members. I know this because I saw the primetime TV advert with the end line “coffee v gangs” in which a gang member”™s tattoos turned into inked coffee fields before my very eyes.
On 8 November, the day of the US presidental elections, the clothing company Patagonia closed all its stores to make sure anyone who would rather compare fleeces than choose a president had no excuse not to vote. Read more.