Every brand posted a black square. Every brand issued a statement. Most brands donated some money to some organization. And then most brands went back to doing exactly what they were doing before, except now with a 'diversity' highlight on their Instagram.
Every brand posted a black square.
I am tired. I am tired as a strategist watching brands perform solidarity without substance. I am tired watching companies announce 'commitments to diversity' while their leadership teams remain entirely white. I am tired of being asked to help brands 'say the right thing' when the right thing isn't something you say. It's something you do.
When Glossier built a $1.2 billion valuation primarily through Instagram, they proved that a feed could be a storefront, a community, and a brand manifesto simultaneously. Their comments section did more brand-building than most companies' entire marketing budgets.
The reckoning that matters isn't the statement. It's the audit. Who is in your leadership? Who is making decisions? Whose perspective shapes your product? Who is getting promoted? These questions have answers, and the answers are data, not copy. You can't brand your way out of a structural problem.
What I'm counseling clients: stop asking 'what should we say?' Start asking 'what should we change?' And then actually change it. Publicly. With accountability. With timelines. With consequences if you don't follow through. Because the audience will check. They're already checking.
The brands that were already doing the work before June 2020 are fine. The ones that started performing it after are on borrowed time. You cannot sustain a performance of values you don't actually hold. The audience always, always finds out.
Barnaby is staring at me with an intensity that suggests he either agrees with this take or wants dinner. Both are valid responses.