Conservative backlash and targeted harassment can significantly impact companies' sales and merchandise offerings.
Right-wing activists effectively use outrage and intimidation to influence corporate decision-making.
The media's failure to address the bigotry behind the backlash highlights the necessity of inclusive corporate support for LGBTQIA+ rights.
Deep dives
Backlash to Corporate Pride
The podcast episode explores the backlash against corporate pride, particularly in the context of Bud Light's partnership with a trans influencer. The episode highlights how conservatives responded with vitriol and targeted harassment, resulting in a boycott and a significant decline in sales for Bud Light. The episode also discusses the impact of right-wing backlash on Target's Pride Collection, with videos circulating online criticizing the merchandise as satanic, leading to threats and boycott calls. The episode raises questions about the challenges companies face in navigating a volatile political climate and the tension between catering to the majority while addressing the concerns of a vocal minority.
Strategies used by the Right
The podcast dives into the strategies employed by the right to sustain the backlash against corporate pride. It explores how right-wing figures and media utilized outrage and targeted harassment to pressure companies like Bud Light and Target. The episode emphasizes the effectiveness of the backlash, resulting in declining sales and changes to merchandise offerings. It highlights the coordinated efforts of right-wing activists to utilize divisiveness and intimidation to influence corporate decision-making, and the challenges faced by companies in responding to this pressure.
Implications and Media Coverage
The podcast delves into the implications of the corporate pride backlash and the media coverage surrounding it. It discusses the implications for the LGBTQIA+ community, as well as the potential impact on future corporate support for LGBTQIA+ rights. The episode critiques the neutral and surface-level framing of the controversy by media outlets and the failure to address the bigotry and discrimination behind the backlash. It concludes by highlighting the necessity of inclusive corporate support and the risks of capitulating to a vocal minority.
Conservative outrage over Target's pride collection
Target faced conservative backlash over its pride collection, which included products from the brand Abpralin. While Abpralin does sell items with tongue-in-cheek and satirical messages like 'Satan respects pronouns,' conservatives misinterpreted this as affiliation with Satanism. The targeting of the pride collection was fueled by right-wing media, which sought to link it to a top-down effort by liberal elites to corrupt children. The backlash against Target's pride display exemplifies the right's failure to distinguish between satire and genuine belief, as they conflate trolls like Abpralin with actual Satan worshipers.
Misrepresentation of LGBT-related products as violence
Conservatives and right-wing media perpetuate the narrative that LGBT-related products, such as pride merchandise, are a form of violence and a cultural threat. They label these products as part of an alleged top-down effort by liberal elites to groom and corrupt children. This misrepresentation stems from a failure to understand the difference between aesthetics and material politics. It reflects a conservative desire for complacency and a tactic to advance their own social status, rather than address genuine concerns about the rights and well-being of LGBT individuals.
Lots of subscribers asked us to release last month's bonus episode in full so here it is! Share it with the conservatives, the boomers and the Satanists in your life.
