The micro view of your reputation

How Can Brands Avoid Pinkwashing During Pride and Beyond? A Media Analysis

Like every June, brands across all industries have launched campaigns celebrating Pride. But while many comms professionals claim that such corporate endeavours have played a positive role in normalising LGBTQ+ culture, more and more companies have started facing accusations of “pinkwashing”.

In fact, criticism for “rainbow capitalism”, in which corporations are accused of boosting their image with LGBTQ+ marketing, has never been louder. Much like greenwashing, being blamed for pinkwashing is quickly becoming a new crisis management concern for many brands.

Ferrero’s Kinder-Salmonella Crisis: Media Analysis Report

At the beginning of April 2022, Ferrero, one of the biggest chocolate and candy companies in the world, recalled Kinder Surprise products in the United Kingdom over a link to cases of salmonella, mostly in young children. A few days later, the company extended the recall as more cases were recorded in Europe, including Ireland, France, Germany, Sweden and the Netherlands. In addition, Ferrero voluntarily recalled some of its Kinder chocolates from the American shelves.

To analyse the media conversation around the salmonella outbreak and to evaluate Ferrero’s crisis communications approach, we compiled a report taking into account metrics such as key topics and messages, sentiment and most influential commentators.

How Can PR and Comms Put the “S” in ESG? A Media Analysis

While the ‘E’ and the ‘G’ are now more or less well-defined when it comes to the public understanding of ESG, the ‘S’ has not been given the same attention.
Our media analysis found that philanthropy and diversity are the most powerful ‘S’ reputation drivers, while companies like Netflix and Activation Blizzard were at the forefront of the debate.