By Tommy F
Over the past few years, the effects of climate change, the issues of mental health, the black lives matter movement and feminism have really become mainstream. Many companies have attempted to jump on the ‘woke boat’. This is where companies will intentionally release advertisements or even change the entire scripting of their shows/films to appeal to the ever growing far-leftist woke culture. But how can this affect their company in the long term for short term approval?
Let’s take a closer look at a few franchises. Let’s start off by looking at Doctor Who. In 2014 I was graced by finding Doctor Who and have watched every single modern era episode. Some argue that the quality was highest from the seasons 3-6 period. Others think that the seasons 5-8 period was the best. Something that you wouldn’t see is many people arguing for the modern releases. The final season of the Capaldi era and the Whittaker eras have had generally negative outlooks by classic fans of the show. The introduction of Chris Chibnall to the show made it take a shift on its writing style. Focusing episodes more on world issues, averting more from the sci-fi storylines we loved. In the most recent season (correct as of Nov 2020), there have been individual or even double-ended episodes focused on ‘woke’ issues to appeal to newer viewers. The BBC have done this with other shows, being nicknamed the ‘woke brigade. With episodes focused on Mental Health, climate change, pollution, and conflicts. Some fear that the turn for the worst has already killed off the show. In the short term, sadly it works wonders. Companies are praised for their awareness and willingness to help the case. However, if we look at the long term impact, the numbers for the show have plummeted in recent years and there have been calls to remove Chibnall from the show completely in a ‘Save Doctor Who’ campaign.
Experts warn an uptick in socially and politically aware advertising can read more as chasing headlines than meeting real consumer demands, and it could degrade trust in the industry. This is why we are now turning our attention to BT. The short midroll advert frequently shown before youtube videos featured a gay couple. In no ways is this wrong, like some far-rights are calling it. The advert was bashed by people for attempting to be woke, and it damaged the company's sales in that quarter. This ad was released right before the Covid-19 crisis, and the ad was pulled after its negative response from a few hate-groups.
Customers will eventually forgive you for boring them; but they find it much harder to forgive being patronized. Pepsi learned this the hard way when the company put out a cringe-worthy 2017 commercial that seemed to suggest a cold soft drink could mend police-community relations…oh, and apparently heal racial wounds as well.
Looking to the modern day and Christmas ads are coming out in their numbers. Two ads that have received some backlash are the Mcdonalds and the Sainsburys ad, the latter being subject to more hate by alt-right groups than any other ad of the year. I’ll start with the example of Mcdonalds. I’ll admit, this ad was a complete flop in my eyes. A cringy, 45 second ad about a stereotypical moody teenager that doesn’t care about his mom. However, at the end, he learns the importance of family love and Christmas spirit by the means of a Mcdonalds meal. My god, it was awful. They are trying to shove down your throat an ‘emotional mental health christmas advert’. In a desperate bid to save their billion dollar corporation with a woke Christmas advert. We are yet to see the impacts of this in the long term, but as soon as this advert was released, the Mcdonalds stock crashed for the week.
However, nothing took more backlash than Sainsbury’s ‘Gravy Song’ christmas advert. The good spirited, harmless advert of a cheery father calling his daughter for Christmas. He sings about his gravy while the daughter cringes. In my opinion, the best and least annoying of all the Christmas adverts. So why did it get so much hate, what made the alt-rights go mad? The family was black. A fun advert which had frankly nothing to do with the brand made the racists lose everything. In recent months, some companies have been called out for following pride or BLM for social approval, only to forget about it the next month. After these months of campaigning and people get mad at a black family celebrating Christmas. However, people were quick to come to the defence of Sainsburys, and while i’m not one to enjoy companies attempting to be woke, I have to say that this was a ridiculous attempt by the alt-right.
So, in the short term? It can be very diverse. People will praise the company, or they will run them into the ground. But in the end, everyone will eventually forget, even the companies themselves. TV shows can suffer worse, letting down large fanbases. A last example could be when Nick attempted to make spongebob gay for pride month. It all washed over, everyone forgot about it in the end.
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