What is "Woke-Washing"?
Over the last few years, social justice movements have found their way into mainstream conversation, giving impetus to individuals and companies alike towards becoming further educated in and involved with social justice issues (and rightfully so). What happens, however, when this increased motivation for change is exploited by marketing and advertising teams, and how can marketers avoid this and instead discuss social issues through their work in a way that matters?
So…What Exactly Are We Talking About?
Imagine for a second- you have a coworker who has never taken that much interest in getting to know you, aside from a friendly “good morning” every now and again. Imagine then, you unfortunately get into an accident and sustain an injury that excuses you from work for a little while. When you return to the office, you find that said coworker has taken it upon themselves to dramatically over-emphasize their sympathy for you (of course, only when your boss is watching), not having done anything to pick up your slack while you were away, or offering any tangible ways to help you acclimate back to work. That probably wouldn’t feel too good, right?
Now take that example, and apply it to the ways brands seek to cater to social justice movements and marginalized groups to make themselves look better and sell product. Just like that annoying coworker offering hollow sympathies in hopes of getting into the good graces with the boss is every company out there that tries to jump on a social justice bandwagon without any tangible way to actually support it. That is what woke-washing is, and not only is it bad practice ethically, but it’s also bad for your business. Consumers aren’t stupid, and they can spot platitudes when they see them; Gen Z specifically, which is the generation that marketers attempt to appeal to via discussion of social justice causes.
You may have heard of more specific terms like “greenwashing” (when a company markets themselves as being environmentally friendly to gain business and respect despite not mirroring that sentiment through the company’s actions), or “pinkwashing” (two definitions; referring to marketers taking advantage of LGBTQ issues or Breast Cancer to market their products and services). However, what exactly do these practices look like in action?
Here’s What Not To Do…
It can be easy to take a company’s seemingly positive and progressive marketing at face value and believe that it was done in good faith, but sometimes these failed attempts at social justice are obvious ( with a little digging) to any viewer paying enough attention.
Pinkwashing: Pride Month Posturing
As the clock strikes midnight on the 1st of June, marking the beginning of Pride Month in the United States, brands change their profile pictures and headers across social media to don rainbow flags behind their logos and feature images of smiling same-gender couples and trans folks on their grid and in their ads. Companies like CVS, Walmart, Wells Fargo, and AT&T have all participated in this annual rainbow-fication, but when exploring a little deeper, you’ll see that they’re all walk, with little to no talk.
Sadly in fact, 25 corporations (including the aforementioned) who celebrated Pride in their marketing in 2021 donated over $10 million to anti-LGBTQ politicians in the last two years.
What good is a rainbow Twitter header if at the same time, you’re supplying politicians the funds they need to introduce discriminatory legislation against the group you’re claiming to celebrate?
Greenwashing: Not So Innocent After All
Climate anxiety is real, and unfortunately, many brands take advantage of this fact.
Innocent Drinks is a UK based juice/smoothie company that was started all the way back in 1999 with the goal of bringing healthier drinks to consumers and aiding in the conservation of the environment. However, Innocent has been called out multiple times throughout the years (back in 2008, and as recent as 2022) for many examples of misleading advertisements and alignment with environmentally harmful companies despite their claims of concern.
Their “Little Drinks, Big Dreams'' ad campaign sought to spread the message that buying their single-use plastic bottled drinks would actually be beneficial to the environment, and much to their dismay, the UK’s Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) received 26 complaints about the advertisement stating that it was misleading and wilfully overexaggerating the purchase’s environmental impact. Additionally, Innocent Drinks is owned by Coca Cola, a corporation that causes deeply damaging environmental harm through its plastic use and is the most littered brand found on UK beaches.
Karbonated Karelessness: Pepsi’s Tone Deaf, Woke-Washing Ad featuring Kendall Jenner
It’s hard to forget the massive advertising misstep made by Pepsi in 2017. Taking advantage of the multitude of deadly police brutality events and subsequent protesting that took place in the United States leading up to 2017, Pepsi utilized this tragic social landscape as the background of its “Live for Now” campaign, which featured Kendall Jenner at a protest gleefully sharing a Pepsi with a police officer while the crowd joins in to laugh and applaud.
The brand took advantage of a profoundly important social movement in an effort to make money, and made protesting look like a fun, wholesome activity during a time when the reality for actual protestors meant risking their bodily safety and criminal records to fight for what they believed in. By placing Kendall Jenner (arguably one of the most privileged individuals in popular culture with little-to-no known connection with social justice protesting ) at the heart of the advertisement, Pepsi also highlighted the tone deafness of the project as a whole.
How Can I Tell What’s Woke-Washing from What’s Genuine?
Below are some of the common issues to investigate when looking into whether a company practices what Discernment and research are key!
Buzzwords- Pay attention to social-justice-minded buzzwords such as: “equality”, “all-natural”, “eco friendly”, “conscious” and other platitudinal descriptors and nouns. They sound nice at first, but may just be there to create interest and save face.
Look Into Parent Companies and Founders- Just like the previously mentioned case of “eco-conscious” Innocent brand drinks and their affiliation with pollution giant Coca Cola, many companies that spout positive values and efforts may be owned or backed by larger companies or individuals that oftentimes have a negative effect on the environment, politics, or their own workers’ rights.
Futile Initiatives- A common practice by brands (especially those that have been criticized or called out for hypocrisy) is to announce initiatives that they’re planning to roll out to help fix whatever problem is being discussed. They understand that actionable moves make people feel like something is being done to fix whatever is wrong, showcasing their brand in a better light. While these proclamations may sometimes lead to positive results, many brands announce initiatives that:
A. May not have any legitimate, helpful outcomes
B. May be planned for the future, but are out of reach and never actually get actioned upon
C. May create some real change, but not enough to make it substantial or to address the root of the problem at hand
So You Wanna Talk Social Justice…
But you don’t want to woke-wash! Going into the marketing process with this exact mindset is the first step. Here are a few pointers for discussing social issues via your marketing in a way that matters, makes sense, and doesn’t deceive your audience.
Macro-Level Changes: “Transformative Branding”
The idea behind transformative branding is that business leaders and stakeholders have the opportunity to create systemic change from within the marketing process through rethinking leadership and collaborative coupling inside their organization. By establishing values of equality at the leadership level/rethinking what “leadership” actually entails, and carrying these values through each level of the company (employee level, supply level, community level, etc.) via collaborative coupling, brands can create a business model that practices what it preaches and carries out social justice and responsibility in sustaining, meaningful ways. Patagonia is an excellent example of this.
Another good example of a company practicing meaningful social justice initiatives and avoiding “washing” in marketing is Levi Strauss & Co. and their longstanding history of support for the LGBTQ community. For nearly three decades, Levi’s has shown material support for the LGBTQ community in a multitude of ways, such as passing out informational leaflets during the very beginning of the AIDS crisis, making the first corporate donation in the fight against AIDS in 1983 to the Kaposi Sarcoma Clinic, being the first major corporation to offer domestic partner benefits to same-gender couples in 1992, continuing their HIV/AIDS activism through volunteerism, organizing, and collecting $70 million in donations since the 1980’s, and more. Additionally, each year their Pride collections donate 100% of their net profits to designated LGBTQ organizations. By historically supporting and building relationship with the community they’re marketing around, Levi’s ensures that their support is not simply for show.
Check Yourself Before You Wreck Yourself
Many times, brands will go out of their way to superficially get involved with social justice movements due to societal pressure to avoid being seen as uncaring and ignorant. However, if you choose to partake in discussing these topics through your branding, you must be ready to answer for yourself when customers come asking questions about your company’s past, present, and future. Leading into the next point…
Enact Initiatives That Matter
Providing actionable change is all good and fine, but what does this actionable change look like? What will it result in? What problem is it addressing? If seeking to promise that X and Y will happen, make sure that X and Y will actually happen and happen correctly.
Don’t Do It To Sell Products
While marketing is used to sell products, it doesn’t always have to be. If your only stake in discussing a social topic is to sell a product, your company might be best avoiding that discussion all together. Utilize your marketing to talk about social issues because they matter to you and are important, not because they can get you some extra sales. If you go into the marketing process with that ‘salesy’ mindset, it will be obvious.
Be Honest
If your company happens to find itself in some hot water about possible missteps in marketing or internal issues on a corporate level are brought to light, respond with honesty and transparency. Admit when you may have messed up, and apologize to those who have been hurt. Take as much feedback as you can (even if it is harsh), and use that feedback to make substantive changes where necessary.
As we as a society progress to better understand different marginalized groups and their respective needs, wants, and struggles, the rules for what is and isn’t acceptable are changing all the time as we learn. The best ways to make sure your marketing strategy isn’t falling into exploitative territory is by keeping up to date with current events, making genuine empathy the mindset that you lead with, doing your own research and educating yourself on the history and realities of marginalized groups, and (if you must), engaging in paid consulting sessions with members of the community you are attempting to reach out to if you are able to pre-emptively find someone who offers this service.