Authentic Advocacy: How to “BeReal” About a Cause

As social media rose to popularity, everyone with access to technology had the opportunity to share the happenings of their lives with anyone else who cared to listen. However, time came to prove that our lives were rather mundane. As a result, influencers, celebrities, and even the non-elite began posting videos and images that portrayed their lives as something extravagant and interesting, polished and perfect. That image is demoralizing for the average human, being that it is so unrealistic and hard to maintain. Thankfully, the social world has begun trending back toward “authenticity,” sharing those small, boring moments of your day again. Social media sites like BeReal have blown up, prompting users to post at a random time BeReal chooses each day, leading to exciting posts such as a picture of your desk or your morning cereal. Psychological reports have been published encouraging the public to dig deep into their authentic selves to live a happier life. There are an influx of YouTube videos coaching viewers on “How to be themselves” and now even influencers are starting to share their unfiltered photos.

Many corporations have jumped on this trend as well. The irony is, however, that their interest in authenticity is often wholly inauthentic—they are simply trying to capitalize on the current ESG trends, and don’t follow through with the practices they preach. Much of the inauthenticity can be spotted when brands make grandiose statements, promising the impossible, rather than acting on specific deliverables.

Understanding the market is smart, misrepresenting your brand is not. Below are three ways companies can rise above mediocrity and advocate for causes that matter to their customers in a totally authentic way.

1. Do No Harm

Breaking the “don’t be a hypocrite” rule is often the first thing that indicates to users that a brand is completely phony. Bill Gates, founder of Microsoft (who is frankly a brand in his own right), recently wrote a book called, How to Avoid a Climate Disaster. The book is informative, well written, and targeted toward helping those who aren’t experts in environmental science understand their part in protecting the climate. Before and since its publication, Gates has advocated for environmental sustainability and climate action.

For years, Gates has also been criticized for investing upward of $1.4 billion dollars in fossil fuel investments. He has a $194 million private jet collection, something that increases his carbon footprint tremendously, and a 66,000 square-foot home that hardly screams “minimalism.”

While Bill Gates genuinely wants to support environmental causes and is fearful about the future of the earth, his personal life does not always reflect this. As a result, his advocacy and efforts sometimes come across as inauthentic.

Photo by Fernand De Canne on Unsplash

On the flip side, you don’t need to necessarily change your whole business model to support a specific cause, either. Take H&M for example. The fast fashion brand is hardly the face of environmental sustainability. However, in recent years it has made public efforts to cut down its carbon footprint. The company collects old garments to recycle them into new clothes, has pledged to use 100% recycled materials by 2030, and promotes the repairing and re-wearing of already-purchased clothes. H&M isn’t doing anything groundbreaking for the environment—that would have to include shutting down all its stores and opening thrift shops and clothing repair stores that run on solar energy in their place. H&M is simply advocating for more sustainable fashion and taking steps to make it happen. The business isn’t claiming it has the key to saving the earth, or even suggesting it is going to be instrumental in doing so. It is just doing a small part and suggesting customers do the same. In this way, H&M is authentic.

2. Make Global Issues a Key Part of the Conversation

From 1995 through 2018, Victoria’s Secret held an annual fashion show publicizing their new lingerie pieces. The models were thought to be the best in the industry—earning the title of “Victoria’s Secret Angels.” Unfortunately, the fashion show (along with the business) has become more controversial as the years have gone by. The models were far from diverse, on diets that had them bordering on starvation, and exercised obsessively. By 2018, when curvier bodies were being celebrated more than they had been in decades, the show’s ratings dropped from nearly 10 million to 3.3 million viewers. As a result, Victoria’s Secret canceled the fashion show.

Four years later, and the fashion show is back—this time, without Angels. After acknowledging that their brand was damaging to the mental health of young women, Victoria’s Secret has decided to replace Angels with brand ambassadors who, “represent all body types and ages.” Furthermore, the stores will begin to advertise plus-sized mannequins next to the stick-thin fixtures, along with improving the store lighting and adding products that apply to women in all stages of life—not just the young and fit.

It's about time Victoria’s Secret did something like this and there is little doubt their efforts will go unrewarded. However, the change did not come from a willingness to support VS customers, alter the way society objectified women, or even expand the lingerie brand’s clientele. They’re still a shopping brand that praises models first and foremost. It came because users were so disgraced over the company’s marketing, that they stopped shopping there. If Victoria’s Secret chose to do nothing to better support and value women’s bodies, something that has become a baseline requirement for customers, it risked going out of business. Victoria’s Secret's changes are appreciated but, because they are solely reflective of the changing industry and not of a desire to support the cause, Victoria’s Secret is inauthentic.

Papier, a British paper company, sells planners, notebooks, pencils, and stationery online. Just one glance at the website is enough to make you feel like your life is a mess and you need Papier products to pull it together.

More than just pens and paper for a more organized schedule, the company also promotes mental health awareness. For 2021’s Mental Health Awareness month, Papier sold wellness and self-care journals, encouraging customers to use journaling as one of their mental health coping mechanisms. Without changing their company to one solely dedicated to mental health, Papier added something to its product library that would bring attention and conversation to an issue that was important to them. Even better? The company explains, “For every wellness journal sold, we donate 50p to YoungMinds – the charity that helps young people get the mental health support they need.” All things considered; Papier wins an authentic score.

3. Say You’re Doing the Most—and then Actually Do It.

Car companies like Tesla and Rivian are changing the world with their electric cars running on completely sustainable energy. These organizations were founded on the principles of environmental consciousness and the desire to live in a climate-focused world. Other car companies, like BMW and Toyota, may not have been founded on these principles, but are also working to build their vehicles in a more environmentally friendly way.

Others, like Volkswagen, have also tried to follow this moral lead. In 2011, Martin Winterkorn, Volkswagen’s chief executive, announced plans that would make his company the largest automaker in the US. How? By building high-performing, high mileage vehicles with low emissions. Unfortunately, the company took some shortcuts that lead to some big issues.

 In September of 2015, “the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) found that many VW cars being sold in America had a "defeat device" - or software - in diesel engines that could detect when they were being tested, changing the performance accordingly to improve results.” Volkswagen later admitted that 11 million of their cars were fitted with this same device. Recovering from this scandal proved difficult as more countries opened investigations and discovered similar problems dating back nearly a decade. More recently, the brand claimed it was ready to “change its brand name to “Voltswagen,” to stress its commitment to electric vehicles.” Days after the announcement it was revealed this name change was a joke—one that very few found funny.

Volkswagen clearly has a desire to improve emissions and limit its environmental impact. However, because their ambition involved cheating, it will be a long time before customers see them as anything other than inauthentic.

Etiko, an Australian fair-trade clothing company, operates with a mission “to buy apparel and footwear which didn’t involve child labor or underpaid workers, and didn’t wreck the environment.” The brand is undoubtedly successful in its goal. The company has certifications from Fairtrade, B Corp and the Global Organic Textile Standard—crucial for any clothing company claiming to be sustainable. Etiko also uses a high proportion of eco-friendly materials, “recycles some of its offcuts to minimize textile waste, [and] its use of eco-friendly materials limits the amount of chemicals, water and wastewater used in production.” The company is also insanely transparent about where it sources its materials, who puts the items together, and exactly what its carbon footprint is.

Etiko isn’t just talking the talk, it is walking the walk. It was founded in the name of environmental reform and is fortunate to make a profit advocating for the cause it cares about. The company definitely can categorize itself as being authentic.

Photo by Juliane Liebermann on Unsplash  

Authenticity and ethics often go hand in hand: typically doing the right thing goes farther than virtue signaling. Not all of the inauthentic brands are bad— Bill Gates, Victoria’s Secret, and Volkswagen are all pushing themselves to be better for the causes they care about. However, sometimes their practices are not aligned, nor consistent, with their mission. They’ve done the research, they know what’s right, now it’s just about taking specific actions toward their larger goals. Once that’s begun, users will know their advocacy is real.  

Header Photo by Markus Spiske on Unsplash