Pinkwashing: how media should step up LGBT+ support - with Outvertising's Cass Naylor

2023 has seen a startling spike in anti-queer rhetoric and misinformation around the world and brands have been caught up in the culture war.

Earlier this year, Bud Light was victim of a right-wing boycott for a partnership with transgender influencer Dylan Mulvaney, and Target received a high-profile onslaught of threats against staff for offering Pride products during the month of June. Both companies responded by capitulating to pressure.

Cass Naylor is co-director of advocacy at Outvertising, the not-for-profit LGBTQ+ advertising and marketing advocacy group. He is also an independent diversity and inclusion consultant and campaigner. And until recently, he worked in comms and marketing for the Financial Times.

He joins host Jack Benjamin and reporter Ella Sagar to discuss how media properties, brands and advertisers must do more to support the queer community, especially in the months outside of Pride.

“Queer people know what pinkwashing looks like; we're very, very sensitive to it now and we react very badly to it", Naylor says. "And [brands] are not getting any better at it. So you need to engage with your queer employees and the forum to do that is through the staff network. I'm a big believer in internal employee activism advocacy through staff networks, ERGs [and] BRGs. Lean on them. They are your experts. But make sure that you deserve to be showing up where you’re showing up and then be loud about it because we need companies to lead the charge."

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This episode was edited by our production partner Trisonic.

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