[07. Uo-to-Date
Where packaging is constantly in tune with the society of which it represents the values.
Packaging mirrors the culture of our society and in turn contributes to creating the same. It does so through messages, that are transmitted via its shape, its graphics, its symbols: it thus transfers values and messages and takes part in the evolution of contemporary social life.
Pride Month: even the packaging wears rainbow colors to support the LGBTQIA + community
The “Pride Month” ended a few weeks ago and again this year there were numerous companies that distributed “rainbow” versions of their products for the occasion to support the LGBTQIA+ community, made up of all the minority identities that refer to the different expressions of gender and non-standardized sexuality.
The so-called “Pride Month” is currently celebrated each year in June to honor the 1969 Stonewall Uprising – also known as the Stonewall Riot – in Manhattan, an event that is symbolically considered the birth moment of the homosexual liberation movement in Manhattan. United States and around the world.
On the night between 27 and 28 June, in one of the frequent raids of the time, the New York police raided the Stonewall Inn, the historic haunt of the New York gay community on Christopher Street in Greenwich Village. Unlike other times, however, the people inside the restaurant, now fed up with the abuses of the police forces and the continuous discrimination by the intransigent society of the sixties, did not remain helpless and decided to oppose this further episode of abuse. .
The reaction was particularly violent and rapidly escalated, resulting in a wave of further protests. Symbol of Stonewall is Sylvia Rivera, a transsexual woman who is said to have started the riot by throwing a bottle at a policeman.
The year following the events in Stonewall, the newborn Gay Liberation Front (GLF) organized the first true Gay Pride in history on the streets of New York, which was attended by between five thousand and ten thousand people. From that moment on, the month of June was chosen to celebrate homosexual pride, with demonstrations all over the world, with the exception of the over seventy countries where homosexuality is currently still considered a crime.
The road to true equality of rights is unfortunately still far away, but the month of pride, in the meantime, has become over time – especially in the United States – an opportunity for companies and the media, which to demonstrate their support the LGBTQIA + cause, coat their products and services with the colors of the rainbow and donate to associations and groups in defense of minority identities. Apple, Abercrombie & Fitch, Calvin Klein, Guess, Nike, Adidas, Converse, Fossil, Lego, Disney, Marvel, DC Comics, are just some of the many brands that are an expression of this phenomenon.
The “Rainbow Flag” is considered one of the main symbols of Pride. It first waved at a demonstration in 1978, from an idea by US artist and activist Gilbert Baker. Since then, the rainbow flag has spread around the world as a representative element of the LGBTQIA + community’s struggle for civil rights.
It is therefore for this reason that the rainbow stands out on flags, clothes and various accessories used by demonstrators during the month of pride, and is also adopted by an increasing number of companies that every year revisit their iconic products or create others to hoc to participate in the celebrations of the Pride.
Among the most original proposals launched for 2022, a special version of the iconic biscuits was presented Oreo, on whose surface the word “proud” appears instead of the traditional logo. On the wrapping there are phrases on inclusiveness and respect; It is also possible to add your own message and customize the product to give it to someone you are proud of.
The project was developed in collaboration with PFLAG, organization founded in 1973 and dedicated to supporting, educating and defending the rights of LGBTQIA+ people and their families.
The Skittles candies had been presented, in 2020 and 2021, in a “gray” version, on the occasion of the “Give the Rainbow” campaign (“give the rainbow”, in reference to the value of solidarity), an expression that it had also replaced on the packaging the popular slogan “Taste the Rainbow” (“taste the rainbow”, that is referring to the chromatic variety of candies).
For the 2022 edition, the Skittles are instead offered in their usual colors, already colorful as a rainbow, but in a line of packs illustrated by six artists from the LGBTQIA + community: Kah Yangni, MegEmigoArt, Mia Saine, Chi and Ash + Chess , each of which represented their own way of “seeing the rainbow”. Each packaging is also equipped with a QR code which, once scanned, leads to a virtual space where it is possible to get to know the artists’ work more closely.
For the third consecutive year, for each product sold, a dollar is donated to GLAAD, which operates in the entertainment, news and digital media sectors, disseminating accurate information and inspirational stories of LGBTQIA + people, to foster the process of acceptance of diversity.
In addition to the limited editions of products that on the occasion of Pride Month change their graphics in favor of the shades of the rainbow, it is interesting to observe how in recent years brands have been born that already in themselves express the values of diversity and the joy of manifesting own identity.
The company Couplet Coffee is founded and managed by Gefen, a woman “proudly queer and obsessed with coffee since the age of 13”, as she herself declares in the presentation of her business. The proposed author blends are characterized by particularly colorful and cheerful packaging, and names that express the values on which the same brand is founded, such as “Peaceful Peru” (referring to peace) or “Espresso for Everyone” (referring to diversity and upon acceptance). Couplet Coffee promotes, among other things, events involving artists and exponents of queer culture, as the Queer Art Show & Open Mic Poetry Night, for fundraising for organizations such as The Trevor Project, particularly active in suicide prevention and crisis support for LGBTQIA + young people.
Similarly, Gay Beer is the brand of a Brooklyn brewery founded by the couple (also in real life) Jon Moore and Jason Pazmino. The company, in addition to making an explicit reference to belonging to the LGBTQIA + community in the name and graphic identity of the product, supports various associations and charities through periodic donations, including Housing Works , the Hetrick Martin Institute , the Ali Forney Center and the Center for Black Equity.
Founded and managed by people belonging to the LGBTQIA + community, they are therefore companies that do not wear the colors of the rainbow only in June, but are proud to express their authentic identity throughout the year and support the causes of minorities outside. from the mainstream.
In fact, it may happen that an organization, even with the aim of supporting a more than positive social cause, decides to ride a trend or to take advantage of a particular sensitivity of public opinion towards the issues of inclusion, limiting itself to spreading temporary campaigns. impact, but without making a concrete commitment to change, to cite just one example, the internal policies of the company.
The risk, therefore, is to fall into the so-called “rainbow-washing“, a purely cosmetic action of the image of a brand to present itself as more “gay-friendly”, but without a real commitment to defending the rights of minorities. This phenomenon is similar to what has been happening for some time with “pink-washing” (from the pink color of campaigns against breast cancer), with respect to supporting female causes, or with “green-washing”, when they are colored with green products to show them more “eco-friendly”.
To be truly consistent, a company cannot limit itself to displaying a flag or using the colors of the rainbow in its communication. It must be an expression of real values, which must be pursued and supported both outside and inside the organization. Just think of the difficulties that transgender people still face today to get a job, but also the inequality of pay for women or accessibility problems for the disabled.
By now activism is intersectional and if you decide to display the rainbow flag, consistency requires us to be ethical and inclusive on all other fronts, possibly not only in words and not only in conjunction with Pride Month.
