Episode 15: Is It OK for Companies to Capitalize on Heritage Month Celebrations?
Should capitalism be color/race/orientation blind?
Transcript
Chris Riback: I'm Chris Riback. This is Call In with Dr. Alexandria White. We discuss business leadership in our time of social change when to call in, when to call out, and how to build sustainable business value today.
Today's topic: is it wrong for companies to capitalize on heritage month celebrations? Before our conversation though, an ask from us to you. We hope you like these call in conversations. And if so, we'd appreciate if you take a moment, go to Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen, and if you're so moved, leave a five-star review. The ratings really matter. They go a long way to helping other people find the podcast.
Dr. Alexandria White: Our show is brought to you by Clayton, Dubilier & Rice, which is committed to a more diverse and inclusive future. Let's call in.
Chris Riback: Hi, Dr. White. Great to talk with you again.
Dr. Alexandria White: Hello, Chris, how are you?
Chris Riback: I am doing well. Let's get into it. I know, you know that just about every month, it seems, brings the opportunity to recognize and celebrate some of the many heritages that make our country special. We are a melting pot. At the same time, I know you know, businesses like to sell things to customers, and a key part of selling is connecting with customers and prospects. And whether it's Juneteenth or Pride Month or AAPI, more and more, it seems, companies are seeking to connect their products and their sales with the heritage celebration of the moment.
So let me start at the top, should companies even recognize the various heritage celebrations? Is heritage month recognition a necessary part of capitalism? And I'm sure you get this question a lot, shouldn't capitalism be color or race or orientation blind?
Dr. Alexandria White: Whoa, Chris, loaded question, but I am happy to answer. Yes, companies should recognize heritage month celebrations. We know that companies are not just brick and mortar. They are made of people from different race, ethnicities, genders, socioeconomic status, and so let's amplify that. Let's celebrate people who make up our workforce, such as amplifying Black History Month, Asian American Pacific Islander Month and Pride Month.
In addition to recognition of Juneteenth and National Coming Out Day, those are categorized as identity recognition days. So we have heritage months, and we have identity recognition days. We know we live in a capitalistic society. So yes, in my opinion, it is okay for companies to capitalize off of heritage months.
But with a caveat, it needs to be thoughtful. It needs to be authentic, without harming the intended community. And so here are some examples of companies that have capitalized on heritage month celebrations. Let's take Target, for instance. Six years in, they have a Black History Month line of clothes, and what do they do? They find Black designers and subject matter experts, and ask them to come along and promote and design for their t-shirt line.
Disney releases a new Pride collection for LGBTQ Month. Those are ways that they have capitalized off that. Netflix launches an Asian American Pacific Islander hub, so when you turn on that Netflix, during an AAPI Month, you see nothing but Asian creators, movies, and talent. That's a way for you to click and learn, and it also brings revenue to Netflix.
And so in regards to your question about, should capitalism be colorblind? I shy from that term colorblind, because being a DEI strategist, I often hear people say, "Oh, we need a colorblind society. I don't see race or gender, I hire, and I interact with people not based off of what they look like."
Chris Riback: A number of people say that, and they very well can not only mean it, but can be, I would think, extremely well-meaning people. I'm sure you assume that too.
Dr. Alexandria White: It's a well-intended statement. In my work, I hear it all the time. It's well-intended, but it does nothing to move the needle on race relations and gender inequality and all the other things that we're dealing with. And so I tell people, "Let's introduce a new term. Instead of saying a colorblind society, let's talk about a color and culture aware society. Where I see you, I want to understand, sincerely understand your lived experiences, and so that we can have a conversation."
And so that's what companies and organizations should do. When they are doing these products, let's think about the color and the culture awareness of that. Let's understand and amplify the lived experiences of these communities that we, in essence, are going to profit off of. And then let's talk about how we can be better as a company and organization to support them.
Chris Riback: That is a really big idea in my mind. The benefit of being blind to differences versus the benefit to being aware of differences, and how those work together. That feels to me, like you might have just identified a whole other conversation for us. Doesn't it just seem like we're never going to run out of things to talk about, Alex?
Dr. Alexandria White: I know, I love it though.
Chris Riback: The other thing that is striking me in listening to you, and knowing you, I think that two words that are going to keep coming up in today's conversation, you've already said them, are authenticity and sincerity. And I bet as we look at various examples, those are going to be two themes that you really think about. So let's talk about some of the pushback. I know you know the term rainbow capitalism.
Rainbow capitalism is used to explain the commercial celebration of Pride Month by corporations that actively market to queer individuals during the month of June. This marketing usually only lasts the 30 days of June, and is often, as has been written, blatantly contrary to the corporation's true motives toward the queer community. That's how some people define rainbow capitalism.
Dr. Alexandria White: Correct.
Chris Riback: Again, just for this conversation, I mean, we could be talking about Pride Month or any other month designation. And my question is what should a company do? I mean, on the one hand, I would imagine that a company that doesn't recognize Pride Month in some specific way, may risk offending customers who care.
Dr. Alexandria White: Correct.
Chris Riback: And on the other hand, some of those customers will feel that the company is pretending to care, as I just described. Focusing on them for just these 30 days and wonder, "Well, why don't you actively market to me the other 335 days this year?" So how should a CEO or a CMO or any other C-suite leader balance that potential conflict?
Dr. Alexandria White: So let's go with some facts and some terms before I answer that. Are you-
Chris Riback: Well, you know that I never let facts get in the way of an argument, Alex. So you can use facts if you would like, but I can't say upfront that I'm going to acknowledge them, but go ahead.
Dr. Alexandria White: Okay. Well, let me start with a term then.
Chris Riback: Yes, please.
Dr. Alexandria White: Are you familiar with the term pink dollar or pink money?
Chris Riback: No, I'm not.
Dr. Alexandria White: Pink money describes the purchasing power of the LGBTQ+ community. Sometimes it's coined pink dollar or pink money. In 2019, globally, let's just talk about globally, members of the LGBT community spent three point seven trillion dollars on products. And so when you think about that amount of money and how companies know that. They can be intentional and avoid rainbow capitalism. And so for those other 335 days, what can they do? If you have the power to provide a budget for LGBTQ ERGs in your company or your organization, do it.
Chris Riback: Employee resource groups, yes.
Dr. Alexandria White: And then when you talk about not avoiding rainbow capitalism, how are you doing that intentionally with your company or organization? Are you looking at ERGs? Are you looking at inequality? Are you looking at transgender policies for employees that are transitioning? And so, are you learning the lived experiences those other 335 days, so that when Pride Month does come around, you have intentional and sincere programming?
For example, at ReBoot Accel, we facilitate days of understanding for companies. They are town hall, company-wide events where you hear about those lived experiences from a particular demographic, it could be gen Z, it could be women, it can be LGBTQ+. And so understanding the lived experiences of your employees can help you have that intentional programming. And so that you won't be known as, "Oh, that's just a rainbow capitalistic company or program. When June is over, you won't even hear anything about the LGBTQ rights, laws, things that are important to the community. Oh, they just do it for 30 or 31 days." You can avoid that. It's about being intentional year round, just small things that you can do.
Chris Riback: And I really want to home in on what can companies do. Because you've answered that, no, you feel like recognition of heritage and heritage months can be a part of capitalism. That we don't have to have some wall between the two. And boy, it's just morally wrong to integrate some type of money, revenue generating, customer relationship deepening effort through a heritage month period. You're saying that you have room for that. You're advocating that businesses can do that. You gave some examples, Target and Disney and Netflix. At the same time, you and I both know it can also go sideways.
Dr. Alexandria White: Oh yes.
Chris Riback: Can we talk about Walmart?
Dr. Alexandria White: Definitely.
Chris Riback: Can we talk about ice cream? I know-
Dr. Alexandria White: I love ice cream.
Chris Riback: We can always talk about ice cream, can't we?
Dr. Alexandria White: Yes.
Chris Riback: Walmart recently produced Juneteenth ice cream. It was swirled red velvet and cheesecake flavor, which by the way, just because we are talking facts, sounds delicious.
Dr. Alexandria White: Yes.
Chris Riback: The packaging was yellow, green, red, and black, and said, "Share and celebrate African American culture, emancipation, and enduring hope." You cannot find that ice cream now, Alex. As you know, Walmart pulled it. And just some of the social media reaction included one person who wrote, "Dear Walmart, okay, thanks, I guess. Capitalize off the culture? With all of the Black-owned brands, why not promote their products? Give them room on the shelves, give them production to expand. When we said recognize our work, that's what we meant."
Dr. Alexandria White: Yes.
Chris Riback: Walmart removed the products and said, "We received feedback that a few items caused concern for some of our customers. And we sincerely apologize." Now, Alex, many people might think, "Come on, Walmart, wasn't purposely trying to offend customers, obviously. They thought they were doing the right thing. They highlighted the history of Juneteenth. They had the statement on there. They got the tone wrong, mistakes happen." Alex, how do you see it? Did Walmart handle it properly? More specifically, what should Walmart have done in the first place?
Dr. Alexandria White: Well, I have been following this incident and it has been quite interesting. First, Juneteenth is a newly nationally recognized holiday, therefore, there are still people, communities, organizations, companies that are just getting familiar with the importance of it, that just learned about it. As I do this work, I'm doing more and more Juneteenth presentation, so people are just now learning about it. And so, for me, Walmart should have done some due diligence. They should have said, "This is a new holiday." A lot of people in the African American community, I've known about it for years, we recognize it in my family. And so let's – a focus group. Let's ask some people. Walmart received feedback after they had the backlash, but it would've been so intentional if they would've gotten feedback before they even put the ice cream on the shelves.
Chris Riback: Alex, the words that you used earlier in this conversation, sincerity, authenticity, was that missing do you feel in Walmart's actions?
Dr. Alexandria White: Intent versus impact, when I saw it and believe me my phone blew up, and I actually loved the slogan, "Share and celebrate African American culture, emancipation, and enduring hope," wonderful. But they could have done that by promoting Black-owned ice cream brands. One of them, that is already being sold in their stores is Creamalicious. Creamalicious sales have gone up. It's one of the only Black-owned ice cream brands. And so Target sells it, Walmart sells it, why not amplify that organization, instead of making your own? And so what Walmart should have done in the first place was just do a little due diligence – Focus groups, understanding the impact and the importance of Juneteenth, and how can we amplify other minority-owned ice cream brands?
Chris Riback: Well, personally, I look forward to supporting any product called Creamalicious. And the fact that it's a minority-owned ice cream brand makes me feel even better about it. But I got to be honest, Alex, Creamalicious really sells itself, doesn't it?
Dr. Alexandria White: It does. It does. And in the essence of ice cream, while you might not always agree with Ben & Jerry's stance, they are one company that is consistent with their stance on social justice. And so Ben & Jerry's ice cream has been in the news for a lot of things. But when we talk about consistency, authenticity, and sincerity, Ben & Jerry's comes to mind with their stance on social justice and being consistent.
Chris Riback: Consistency, authenticity, sincerity, those are all keywords, key ideas that lead me to wonder about Dr. White's wisdom. So if there's ever a time where business leaders would need Dr. White's wisdom, this feels like one of those times, Alex. Is it wrong for companies to capitalize on heritage month celebrations?
Dr. Alexandria White: Okay, here we go. Just make it a priority and not a last minute decision. We know these heritage months are not going anywhere. I tell my companies that I consult with, "We know that LGBTQ month is coming up, Native American Heritage Month is coming up. It's not going anywhere. So let's go ahead and start planning." Being intentional, making it a priority, and not a last minute decision. Promote heritage months and identity recognition days on your business calendars and throughout your social media. Simple, intentional, and can be impactful.
Reaching out to ERG leads and affinity groups for programming ideas and suggestions. What is your ERG doing? Or if you really want to do a business focused idea in regards to this, pitch a product to ERGs or BRGS that you want to promote during these heritage months. You'll get some candid feedback, and it's a testing hub for your ideas. And if you want to capitalize on heritage month celebrations, how are you giving back to the very demographic that you are profiting off of? That is how you be intentional and sincere.
We're not saying, "Give all your profit." Once again, we're in a capitalistic society, but how are you giving back? Is it through scholarships? Is it through business hubs? Is it through coaching? Is it through donating to HBCUs or Hispanic serving institutions? How are you giving back?
And then when you are implementing a product, is the planning team diverse? Before you roll out a product item, does your marketing team have someone that identifies, possibly, with that demographic, so that they might give you their lived experience on if this product would be intentional, impactful, or even hurtful? And so that's what I have regarding, is it wrong for companies to capitalize on heritage month celebrations?
Chris Riback: So one, make it a priority. Two, promote heritage months on business calendars and social media. Three, reach out to those ERG leads. Four, how are you giving back to the very demographic you were using to sell your product? And five, be sure the product implementation and marketing teams are diverse. That plus authenticity, sincerity, consistency, is that it Dr. White?
Dr. Alexandria White: That is it for now. But this is going to be a continuing conversation that I hope more companies and organizations take to heart, so that we can continue to advance underrepresented communities.
Chris Riback: I look forward to that conversation. Right now, however, I got to go get myself a bowl of Creamalicious. So if you're done with me, I'm going to go. Okay? Thanks, Dr. White.
Dr. Alexandria White: Enjoy, Chris. Have a great day.