Google lit up the Internet last night with its not-so-subtle rainbow-colored Olympic doodle, quoting the non-discrimination section of the Olympic Charter below it. From what I can tell, based on reports from friends of friends, the doodle is visible by Google users in Russia, too. I’ve been working in social media and social justice for a long time, and I think Google’s move was one of the best-timed, best planned examples of how to use the former for the latter. Other companies are planning to air LGBT-inclusive commercials during the Games as well. But what will the impact of this be?
During the Opening ceremonies tonight, reports the New York Times, Coca-Cola will be airing a longer version of the commercial they ran during the Super Bowl that included two gay dads and their daughter. We get a whole six seconds of them this time (01:10 to 01:16). Chevrolet will run a commercial for its Traverse minivan that includes two same-sex couples (one with moms, one with dads), to illustrate the theme, “The New Us.” (I’d argue that their Silverado pickup truck commercial last night was also designed to appeal to a lesbian audience, but maybe I just have a thing for pickup-truck-driving female rodeo riders.)
Both Coke and Chevy have long been LGBT friendly companies. (My own experience with Chevy last summer bears this out.) The above commercials seem geared for the U.S. market, however, so I wonder what the real impact of the commercials will be. They may help spread a message of LGBT inclusion within the U.S. (or at least LGB inclusion), and for that I am grateful. But how many people who see the commercials will connect them to the worse situation for LGBT people in Russia? (Google, at least, seems to be taking a more global approach.) If the Olympics motivate companies to show American LGBT families, that’s great — but as I said a few days ago, I hope it also motivates them to give money to help LGBT people in Russia, perhaps by giving to the Russia Freedom Fund. Things are far from perfect for LGBT people in the U.S., but they are far better than in Russia.
Similarly, the U.K.’s Channel 4 has released “Gay Mountain,” a deliberately cheesy (and rather funny) video for the Olympics and is showcasing it at its website. (Here’s the YouTube link in case they take it off their homepage.) The U.K.’s Guardian newspaper has painted the “G” in their logo in rainbow colors for the occasion. Again, though, I hope that people wonder and ask what the connection is between the rainbows and the Olympics, other than just a celebration of gay athletes.
The Principle 6 campaign, created by a group of current and former Olympians and professional athletes, is being clearer about their message. They aim to remind people of Principle 6 of the Olympic Charter, which states that discrimination based on “race, religion, politics, gender or otherwise is incompatible with belonging to the Olympic Movement.” They’re asking people to change their social media avatars to the Principle 6 logo during the Olympics, and to buy merchandise with the logo, proceeds of which will both support the campaign and go directly to LGBT advocacy groups in Russia.
But can we keep all of this going even after the Olympics, during all of the international sporting events that ultimately feed in to Olympic qualification? What about international music and arts events held in Russia? And what more can companies with business in Russia do? What economic pressure can they apply? Ultimately, that is worth more than a few seconds of advertising, no matter how important and welcome the visibility and representation is, too.