Posted on 11/05/2004 1:33:57 PM PST by The Loan Arranger
Big companies are hoping to marry their brands to gays and lesbians this weekend — about 20,000 of them. In the first days after the presidential election — in which gay marriage proved to be a pivotal issue — the nation's biggest exposition on homosexual life is setting attendance records. Booths for exhibitors are also sold out for the first time at the Javits Center, which since 1999 has hosted Gay Life Expo, one of the center's liveliest trade shows. Companies ranging from Citigroup and American Express to Jet Blue and J.P. Morgan Chase are hawking their offerings to the crowds, described by organizers as brand-loyal big spenders who are hard to please.
(Excerpt) Read more at nypost.com ...
According to whose criteria?
After what Kodak did to Rolf Szabo, I will never willingly touch anything from them. So, am I irrational?
At what point does looking the other way, by saying "I don't make much of a difference", by allowing things to enter the social consciousness by dint and dgree, do we all become irrational and illogical?
There comes a time when rational and thinking men have to see things for what they are and stop giving life to things that are harmful or dysfunctional.
Raising goats for food, I bet you cracked yourself up when you thought of that one. My point is that as consumers, we can speak loudly enough that companies will hear IF we all speak together. I for one, would buy from a company that didn't listen to a "constituency" that realistically only made up for about 2% of the U.S. population and had as members, proponents of the National Man/Boy Love Association. I would gladly buy from a company that didn't bow to gay pressures. I think this last election coupled with the votes on gay marriage spoke volumes about what we as a people think about the gay lifestyle.
I work for a pretty big company, and we're not trying to expand our market by appealing to a "customer constituency" that has at it's core, a blatant disregard for God's Word against homosexuality.
I know it's impossible to get a real number, but I wonder how many 'Gay' people there are in this country. Even if every 'Gay' person reported to be counted you would still have the ones in 'the closet'.
Geez, what are you like when you're out of control? The problem on FR is...well, people like you. When people like me try to make an intelligent point about something--that a company trying to sell goods or services to a certain constituency doesn't mean they are favoring that constituency, or endorsing the lifestyle, but simply trying to sell more STUFF, like any good capitalist, you go and bring God into it. And start ranting and raving.
There are definitely companies that have crossed the line when courting certain types of people...but they really get into trouble when they espouse certain behaviors in and of themselves. Those companies exist, have crossed the line, and gotten boycotts for themselves.
But have you considered this: there are marketing and merchandising professionals all over the place who are simply trying to sell their goods and services to as many people as possible, and they don't give a hang what those people are like or believe in. They want to get their money out of their pockets and into the pockets of the company.
As for the "pretty big" company you work for: I get this feeling you are likely kept away from the public. "I work for a pretty big company, and we're not trying to expand our market by appealing to a "customer constituency" that has at it's core, a blatant disregard for God's Word against homosexuality."
What crap you speak. I'm hearing a "blatant disregard" for professional conduct, is what I'm hearing. How about you go into your supervisor and tell him exactly what you said above--and include the "God's Word against homosexuality" part. Better yet, how about you contact your local television station and speak forth on your beliefs--which you say are also your company's beliefs. Do that, okay? Name the company, and set forth your company's policy.
Didn't think so. Folks like you go off the deep end because you can't separate your beliefs from the very real, very imperfect world we all have to make our way through every day. You must be really frosted by now. Good, you deserve it. My personal beliefs against homosexuality are probably more stridently negative than yours are--at minimum, they match yours. The difference is, I know how to function in the world. I would not dream of bringing up a charged subject in front of a client. It's one of the first cardinal rules of business: leave politics and religion outside the workplace.
CBF, you don't got the nerve to speak out about your beliefs to your CUSTOMERS. They might be gay...loss of business. They might have gay kids...loss of business.
Bama? Alabama? I have a great friend down there. He's straighter than Sean Connery, but a very tolerant fellow. Watch the humidity.
Those whose lives have been changed by God understand that you cannot separate yourself into different types of people depending on the circumstances. Bill Clinton and his people championed this train of thought. He could be one type of person inside the Oval Office and another in the little closet just off the Oval Office. The thinking went: he can separate his personal life from his professional life, and we shouldn't hold him professionally responsible for his personal indiscretions. I don't hold to this belief. Surprise!
My company doesn't court gays (remember the title of this thread?) My boss and I are on the same page and HAVE discussed it. But we're not stupid enough to set ourselves up for lawsuits by establishing a company policy against homosexuals. You don't have to have a policy to follow a certain course of action and we have chosen to NOT court the gay market.
And if I can send my dollars to companies who think along the same lines, I will. Yes, some marketing professionals don't give a hang about what people think or believe. I do. Any time you take a stand for what you believe is right, people get incensed.
Like I said:You don't have the stones to speak up in public for what you profess as beliefs.
I speak with my checkbook, I speak in the boardroom, and I speak when I vote. If asked in public, I speak, but I don't go around looking for opportunities to speak about homosexuality.
thanks for making my point. now let's both get back to work.
Yes, that's the same ad campaign which excites the xenophobes because they have a Asian couple arguing for the same reason... "Ni! Ni! Ni! Ni! Ni! Ni! Ni! Ni! Ni!"
So, are we supposed to hate T-Mobile because they support the invasion of America, or the queering of America? It's so hard to keep this straight. /sarcasm
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