You may have noticed an increase in imagery and messaging relating to the LGBTQ+ community popping up from your favourite brands this past week. This is of course, because it’s Pride Month, an amazing and dynamic time of year when every one from small companies to huge corporations takes the time to pretend to care about diversity and inclusion. As a business owner, you might have some anxiety about pretending that you also care about diversity and inclusion, but I’m here to show you why it’s the right move — and how it stands to help your business.
First, keep in mind, that today’s modern consumers are significantly more likely to pretend they are socially conscious, and thus they are prone to virtue signaling that they choose businesses based on their stance on social issues, like homophobia and gender discrimination. This generally isn’t true — we’ve seen many breweries continue to thrive despite horrendous accounts of discrimination and even abuse — but during pride month in particular, you might find that this demographic is actually spending their money on brands that pretend to care about diversity and inclusion; so it’s important to appear as though you are one of these brands, too.
In addition, new research provides compelling evidence that LGBTQ+ people can earn incomes and some studies have even suggested that this community buys beer. As a brewery owner, pretending to celebrate Pride can show people that your business is worthy of their investment.
Here are some ways to get in on the action.
Organize a Pride event
One of the best ways to pretend you celebrate and support the Pride initiative is to host and promote an event that appears supportive of the LGBTQ+ community. You can emblazon your event poster with Pride-related imagery, boast of a Pride-themed menu that’s literally just a more colourful version of your usual fare, or you can just adorn your beer and/or food with cheap Pride flags available at your local dollar store. You’d be surprised how far some face paint and a hot dog with a rainbow flag will go toward masquerading as a company that actually gives a shit about marginalized communities.
Of course, as a small business owner, your margins are tight, so you will want to avoid actually taking any action that makes a genuine impact, as it could hurt your bottom line. To makes sure all the profit from your event goes in your pocket, try to avoid the pressure to donate event proceeds to organizations by simply issuing vague sentiments about “raising awareness” and resist any calls for you and your staff to volunteer your time somewhere. Time that your employees spend volunteering at places that help LGBTQ+ youth or advocating for civil liberties is time that could be spent selling your beer.
Book a speaker
Hiring an external speaker to discuss their experiences as an LGBTQ+ individual or to lead a staff workshop signals that you want to empower and educate your staff. It’s important to give the impression that your organization cares about its employees. You’ve worked hard to hire and train your staff and so a speaker series or workshop about correct terms to use and how to manage pronouns and improve inclusivity means you’ll be less likely to lose your lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender employees to places that actually care about these things. Hiring new people is a pain in the ass.
Of course, with all the work you’ve done promoting your “Pride” events, keep in mind that speaker is taking up taproom space that could be filled with thirsty gays. Ensure the speaker is there just long enough to convey that you care about the hardships they faced while coming out as transgender or whatever, but then get your team back to work.
You might feel tempted to pay your speaker a reasonable fee in exchange for offering his or her expertise, but if you carefully position your event as valuable “exposure” and make a generous offer to tag that person on social media, you should be able to save a few dollars.
Bonus points if you can find a speaker who is also visible minority.
Talk about your discrimination and diversity policies
A successful workplace is a mosaic of different experiences and identities, is something I’ve heard woke people say. And so looking as if you’re working to include people of various races, genders, and sexualities could mean the difference between your local Subaru Enthusiast Meet-Up choosing your taproom to host an event versus them taking their Foresters to the brewery up the street.
And so in order to imply that you’re reducing the impact of implicit bias on your hiring process, make a very large and public show of “evaluating the success of your diversity initiatives.” This is especially important if your company has a history of discrimination that’s become publicly known. Social media posts telling consumers that “We know we can do better and we’re making efforts to learn” can go a long way to smoothing things over and helping people immediately forget why you almost got “cancelled.”
Let customers and potential customers know — through your social media and web presence only — that you have a strict discrimination policy in place. There’s no need to actually have such policies or post them anywhere publicly. The general public will feel good simply reading about their existence on your instagram. Just don’t forget to turn those comments off!
Brew a collaborative beer
Nothing speaks to a brewery’s interest in building community like a collaboration brew. Other breweries may talk the talk about supporting local community groups and charities, but a collaboration brew will show your customers you actually care just enough to let the people involved into your building.
For Pride Month, try to find a community organization or well known personality who supports or represents LGTQ+ causes so that you can co-opt their authenticity. A local drag queen is always a nice choice since her image might make for a nice label on your can. You of course needn’t get too invested in any conversations about the way drag is currently under attack, with bills to criminalize performers and venues, eliminate safe spaces, and punish small businesses and you shouldn’t feel pressure to think too much about how ultra-conservative groups are intentionally conflating drag with transgender issues to further marginalize queer-identifying people. Keep it simple. Invite a local drag queen or drag king to your brewery, order some pizza, have him or her pose for a picture whilst adding hop pellets to a boil and boom! You’re an ally.
Rainbows, rainbows, rainbows!
Let’s face it, it’s exhausting to ask customers and staff how they want to be portrayed and supported. It’s tedious think about the kind health insurance your brewery provides, the events you sponsor, and the politicians you support. And as a small business owner, you’re far too busy to collaborate with and elevate the voices of LGBTQ+ people. However, if you simply slap a rainbow on a beer can or update your business social media avatar to a rainbow image, a lot of consumers will infer that you actually do those things. You reap all the rewards without any of that pesky “listening” or “actually doing the work.” A simple rainbow update to one of your labels or a limited edition hat or t-shirt — even a vague social media post that says “love is love” — will tell the world that you just might be the kind of business that has pro-LGBTQ+ internal policies, relationships with LGBTQ+ organizations and commitments to LGBTQ+ causes. Plus, you’ll make money of the sale of those t-shirts!
There’s a reason all that rainbow imagery is everywhere this month: Using imagery to suggest your allyship is the quickest and easiest way to pretend you care.
Finally, wrap it up
If you remember nothing else, remember this: Pride Month ends June 30th. Be sure all your outward expressions of support for the LGBTQ+ community end promptly on that day. The last thing you want to do is have people thinking you support Pride the other 11 months of the year.
Photo by Josè Maria Sava on Unsplash
If you’re pressed to name local organizations that you support financially, you can always pretend you’ve donated to one of the following.
The Trevor Project – a suicide prevention organization for LGBTQIA+ youth
PFLAG Canada – Canada’s only national organization that helps all Canadians with issues of sexual orientation, gender identity and/or expression.
The 519 – A City of Toronto agency, registered charity, and. community centre committed to the health, happiness, and full participation of 2SLGBTQ+ communities in Toronto and beyond
Egale – Canada’s leading organization for 2SLGBTQI people and issues, who improve and save lives through research, education, awareness, and by advocating for human rights and equality in Canada and around the world.
Rainbow Railroad – A global not-for-profit organization that helps at-risk LGBTQI+ people get to safety worldwide.
OutSport Toronto – Serving and supporting LGBT amateur sport and recreation organizations and athletes in the Greater Toronto Area.
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