Challenges and Obstacles Faced by Marketers and Brands during Pride Month

Challenges and Obstacles Faced by Marketers and Brands during Pride Month

Holman, J., & Creswell, J. (2023, May 25). Brands Embracing Pride Month Confront a Volatile Political Climate. The New York Times. Retrieved from: https://www.nytimes.com/2023/05/25/business/target-pride-lgbtq-companies-backlash.html

The Article by Holman and Creswell (2023) analyses the challenges and obstacles faced by marketers and brands during Pride Month, considering the current political environment. Specifically, the article focuses on the current political environment regarding transgender issues. The article highlights Target’s decision to adjust its Pride collection display due to criticism and queries regarding workers’ safety. Further, the article highlights the adverse effects on Bud Light’s sales due to the social media campaign using a transgender influencer. The authors of the article explore the complexities faced by brands that support the LGBTQ+ segment while handling the conservative backlash. The article emphasizes the need for companies to respond effectively to concerns and criticism without wavering in their commitment to the community. However, it is noted that some companies may be reluctant to engage in such issues for fear of product boycotts. Essentially, this is against the efforts of advocacy groups who consider the hesitation part of challenges that curtail the broader representation of LGBTQ+ groups in advertising.

The premise of the article is that there are significant complications and challenges that marketers and companies are facing during Pride Month as a result of the volatile political environment. Notably, this is so when matters concerning transgender issues are given the limelight. In the article’s premise, Target is given as an example of a brand that adjusted its Pride collection display due to the political climate and ended up facing backlash from conservative customers. Further, Bud Light’s experience is discussed in the article, whereby the company’s consideration of transgender issues in social media campaigns led to a drop in sales. The article’s premise implies that the current political environment has accelerated the backlash and opposition towards Pride Month campaign efforts by companies, with the rights of transgender communities rising into a galvanizing issue for conservatives. Notably, this results in a dilemma for companies on whether to support LGBTQ+ communities by celebrating and risk facing boycotts and threats to employee safety. Concerns are raised in the article that companies will stop embracing inclusive initiatives and take a distance from engaging members of the LGBTQ+ community in their advertisement efforts.

The article presents various pieces of evidence to support its arguments, and it is upon the evidence that its credibility can be judged. Target’s decision to adjust its pride collection display is mentioned in the article as a response to concerns by employees regarding employee safety pending confrontational behavior from the customers. Further, the article discusses the conservative backlash against Bud Light due to collaboration with a transgender influencer, leading to a significant decline in sales. Another piece of evidence the article provides is GLAAD’s consideration of creating a Pride war room to help businesses respond to criticism and calls from advocacy groups for Target to reaffirm its initial support for transgender groups.

Evidence provided in the article comes from named sources, including Target’s Company spokeswoman, data from research firms, and GLAAD’s chief executive. Notably, this supports the article’s credibility as a source of information. Further, the article is published by the New York Times, a reputable news outlet firm recognized worldwide for high-standard journalists. Therefore, the article is considered to be credible. However, since many other news sources exist, it is important to cross-check information to ensure an all-around understanding. Essentially, this leads to whether the evidence provided can be verified independently. Indeed, it is true that the evidence can be verified independently from other news sources such as Bloomberg, CNN, and Wall Street (Cheng & Gonzalez-Ramirez, 2021). Further, the evidence can be verified independently by conducting a fact check on reliable sources such as Target’s official statements or press releases, evaluating the company’s sales data to evaluate if there was a decline, and statements released by advocacy groups regarding the issue. The independent verification of the evidence can add to its credibility.

Regarding the address of counterarguments, no explicit alternative perspectives or counterarguments are provided in the article against Pride Month’s challenges experienced by companies. The article focuses on the challenges companies face during the month due to a volatile political environment and the overall results in employee safety and company sales. Even though the article considers the fact that some brands may move forward with their Pride Month programs supported by the given examples, there is no exploration of counterarguments that may dismiss the highlighted challenges. However, this does not mean there cannot be counterarguments, as they can be developed from outside the article by considering the assertions in its information (Narin, 2021). Thus, diverse external perspectives can be explored.

On whether the authors represent a particular interest, there is no clear indication from the article’s information that a particular interest is being represented. The authors work for the New York Times, a widely recognized and reputable news firm. According to Moynihan (2020), the objective of the news outlet is to provide objective information and offer various viewpoints on given topics, not support particular interests. However, this does not mean that potential biases and information distortion cannot find their way into reported information.

The argument used in the article is largely supported by the language used. The language is used to evaluate the current political environment, especially during Pride Month, and its complexities affect various companies. The article adopts descriptive language to depict a picture of customers throwing merchandise on the floor of Target and screaming at the company’s employees. The use of descriptive language creates a sense of hostility and tension. Further, emotive language is used by the authors to convey criticism and outrage faced by companies to emphasize the negative impact on sales and the unfortunate alienation of transgender communities.

An article analysis does not indicate an error in knowledge, evidence, or thinking. Notably, this is so because the authors present their viewpoints in an open discussion format. They do not close room for other people to think or argue against their viewpoints. However, the authors commit to using appeals to convey their message. They employ emotional appeal in the article, describing incidents that occurred in Target Company. Further, an emotional appeal is used to convey the chilling effect on LGBT+ communities’ representation, evoking a sense of concern. Also, the article uses an appeal to authority in which quotes from experts such as a professor of marketing and GLAAD’s chief executive enhance the credibility and authority of the presented arguments. However, there are no evident instances of logical fallacies committed by the authors in the article.

Overall, the article is compelling in the presentation of its major arguments. The article effectively communicates the challenges companies encounter when they offer support for transgender communities, such as opposition and backlash. The use of specific instances, such as the case of Target Company and the decline of Bud Light’s sales, supports the argument. Further, perspectives from experts and advocacy groups are used to support the arguments. Additionally, an emotional appeal evokes concern for the companies and transgender communities. However, the article could have considered counterarguments and alternative viewpoints to enhance credibility. Nevertheless, the article effectively highlights the challenges faced by businesses during Pride Month, making a compelling appeal by raising awareness for the issues.

References

Cheng, H., & Gonzalez-Ramirez, J. (2021). Trust and the media: Perceptions of climate change News sources among US college students. Postdigital Science and Education, 3, 910933.

Holman, J., & Creswell, J. (2023, May 25). Brands Embracing Pride Month Confront a Volatile Political Climate. The New York Times. Retrieved from https://www.nytimes.com/2023/05/25/business/target-pride-lgbtq-companies-backlash.html

Moynihan, C. (2020). A New York clock that tells time now tells the time remaining. The New York Times, 20.

Narin, N. G. (2021). A content analysis of the metaverse articles. Journal of Metaverse, 1(1), 17-24.

ORDER A PLAGIARISM-FREE PAPER HERE

We’ll write everything from scratch

---

Prompt:
Choose an editorial article from within the past 5 years (An editorial is an article that presents the writer’s opinion on an issue supported with facts) from the New York Times, or the Wall Street Journal or browse the library and choose an editorial that addresses a business issue that interests you.

Instructions:
Write an essay describing the following:
*Citation of the article and a brief summary of its contents
*What are the premise(s) in the article?
*What evidence is presented? Is it credible?
*Can you independently verify the evidence presented?
*How are counterarguments addressed?
*Does the writer represent a particular interest?
*How is the language used to develop the argument?
*Do you detect any errors in knowledge, evidence, or thinking?
*Does the writer use any types of appeals or commit any fallacies?
*Overall, how compelling is this article?

Be certain to carefully research your analysis using at least 4 credible sources properly incorporated. Your submission should be 4-6 pages in length minimum and should be a thorough representation of your ability to critically think through the steps above. Use the template provided to ensure you are following APA format.