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Rainbow-washing in advertising has become a critical issue, highlighting the gap between superficial LGBTQIA+ advocacy and brands’ lack of genuine commitment to the community. Using queer narrative theory, this study utilized a big data approach to investigate 128,520 consumer Reddit posts about rainbow-washing from non-Western (India, Indonesia, Malaysia, South Africa) and Western (USA, UK, Australia, Canada) cultures. The findings reveal both micro-level linguistic narratives and macro-level cultural differences in how consumers react to rainbow-washing. This research deepens our understanding of consumer activism against ‘woke’ brands, contributing to both intercultural and narrative-based theories of advertising. Practically, it urges advertisers to go beyond Pride Month campaigns and engage authentically with LGBTQIA+ communities year-round, focusing on both internal and external brand expression.
Diwanji et al. (Fri,) studied this question.