What is 'woke' advertising?
men should refrain from bullying and sexual harassment does not seem terribly controversial. But a new advert from Gillette, a razor firm, recently achieved its 15 minutes of viral fame by taking a stand against “toxic masculinity”.Of course, encouraging a few conservative commentators to blow their top was probably part of Gillette’s strategy. Its gamble was that the free publicity from the controversy would more than offset any lost sales to men who wanted a razor rather than a lecture.
Nike’s customers may be more accustomed to politically tinged marketing than those of Gillette. The sneaker firm has tried hard to enhance its image after being caught out by criticism of its labour standards at suppliers in Asia in the 1990s and early 2000s. Taken together, the campaigns are part of a phenomenon dubbed “woke capitalism”, in which companies try to associate themselves with liberal social values. It may well be that executives genuinely do agree with such sentiments.
By the same token, companies also want to recruit workers from the same generation, which also means appealing to their values. “Young people don’t want to work for a company if it is seen as harmful to the environment or society,” says Jaideep Prabhu of Cambridge University’s Judge Business School. They want to be proud to say where they work.
Those adverts were rather more subtle than the modern examples. But firms are once again being pushed into the political forum because America’s “culture wars” cover many issues that affect the workplace. Larry Fink of BlackRock, a giant asset manager, wrote in his latest annual letter to chief executives that “society is increasingly looking to companies, both public and private, to address pressing social and economic issues.
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