MMCC2100 – Public Relations and Social Media: Foundations

and Cases
PR and social media essay

Feedback from marker (Upper C):

A great choice of campaign! Very interesting to read and overall flows very well, despite a few niggly errors
e.g. work on prepositions 'in', 'from', possessive punctuation e.g. Bonds' commitment.
Solid effort with media references and intertwining the Sutherland reference, but 6 Leganto references were
required and there is only one - so it is a little light on the academic referencing/research side.
Some further attention to detail in referencing would enhance your work.

“Social Media for Awareness and Action”

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Companies can use public relations campaigns, combined with the use of social media to effectively

promote their brand, while additionally using campaigns to create action and awareness on certain

topics. Communication if implemented right can be extremely powerful and help the companies

achieve their desired goal (Sutherland, 2020). Companies can use change campaigns where their aim

is to move the stakeholders or publics through a series of events to create a shift in behaviour. These

campaigns, if successful will not only be beneficial for the groups close to the issue but for the

company itself. This is due to the publics opinion of wanting to associate themselves with a brand

that cares about issues and social injustices in the community. It is important that a change campaign

is created ethically and that the public can see it is not only for the benefit of the business but for the

greater good. There is danger of betraying the public trust if the public views the business is only

doing a certain campaign to get more money and not for the benefit of the larger collective issue.

Bonds is a well-known underwear company that was established in 1915 in Australia and has

become known for their affordable but quality essentials. To stay relevant in the market for over 100

years Bonds has had to ensure they were up to date on the latest news, issues, and trends. A recent

campaign by Bonds named “The UnGENderwear Project” which ran over the month of February

2022 in line with Mardi Gras, is a campaign celebrating the LGBTQIA+ community while also

raising awareness to the issues that the community face. As Bonds states they are “focused on

breaking down gender norms and stereotypes in the fashion industry… upping our commitment to

deconstructing fashion gender norms to support everyone to feel comfortable in their own skin”

(Bonds, 2022). Bonds overall aim is to introduce genderless shopping by 2023.

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This is short term campaign, only running for one month, however Bonds aims to create long term

effects from this campaign and

implement long term changes into

their business. This change

campaign is focused on creating

awareness and sharing new

information to the key publics and

stakeholders. Bonds Instagram page

shows a slideshow of images

defining what LGBTQIA+ stands for. While many will know what the

acronym stands for many consumers will be unaware therefore this post

opens up a space for learning and discussion in the community.

This Bonds campaign has used inspiration as a technique to help promote the message to a particular

movement. It is encouraged in public relations campaigns to focus on inspiring change within publics

rather than persuading them to do so (Sutherland, 2020). This is shown through Bonds partnering

with four members of the LGBTQIA+ community to each give their opinion, tell their story, and

promote the brand through their own social media platforms. By Bonds partnering with these

individuals, Bonds is inspiring members of the LBGTQIA+ community and highlighting their stories

and images on a larger platform. Kelly McBride, Bonds head of marketing said in a recent article

from Mumbrella, “this project is an ongoing pledge from Bonds to change the way we think about

gender, make tangible changes and create safe and inclusive spaces.” (2022) The key word from the

statement is ‘tangible’ changes which highlights Bonds commitment to help the community make

real changes through this campaign rather than just make a profit.

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Rhetorical theory is a communication strategy that employs one or a combination of ethos, logos, and

pathos to influence public opinion (Sutherland, 2020). This can be very powerful when used in

change campaigns. Bonds implemented a combination of all three to promote their campaign. They

use ethos to assert trust to their consumers by partnering with four members of the LBGTQIA+

community, “fashion commentor and activist Deni Todorovic (they/them), creator and DJ Kath Ebbs

(they/she), poet and model Nyaluak Leth (she/her) and Minus18 youth advocate Adrian Murdoch

(he/they).” (Bonds, 2022) The use of using these role models implements the role of pathos, which as

Sutherland defines is an “emotive and feeling based… centred around beliefs, and the human

experience that promotes an emotional response” (pg. 12, 2020).

“Rainbow capitalism” or sometimes known

as “pink washing” is a term that describes

when a company exploits a movement, in

this case LBGTQIA+ communities, by

profiting socially and finically of the

movement but failing to do any real good for

the group associated with the movement.

Peter Tatchell from The Guardian describes

pink washing as “sometimes it feels like a box-ticking PR exercise to make the company look good

and win over LBGTQIA + consumers. It is very off-putting and damaging. Many of us feel

exploited. Most critics call for consistency from brands.” (2021) There is increasing concern over the

commercialisation of the Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mari Gras and brands need to be aware of

exploited the movement for their own gain.

Some corporations that were accused of “pink washing” in 2020 according to an SBS news article

were Absolute Vodka, ANZ, and Cha time Tea, who were accused of only putting a rainbow flag on

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a product but failing to do any more for the community. Kath Ebbs, who is a non-binary queer

creator, actor, and activist, partnering with this recent Bonds campaign, spoke on Abbie Chatfield’s

podcast ‘It’s a Lot’ about brands exploiting Mardi Gras. She says, “brands want to jump on Mardi

Gras and Pride month and celebrate queer people but that this can come at the expense of the queer

creators when Mardi Gras campaigns are hastily thrown together without care or authenticity.”

(2022) Board member Charlie Murphy told SBS News there was a growing feeling among some in

the LGBTIQ+ community that "big business is trying to make a buck off the back of Mardi Gras."

He goes on to say, “if you are a big business and you put up those rainbow flags, you're treating it the

same way as Christmas, you're exploiting a particular holiday for sales, and you will put them up for

two weeks of the year and then it will disappear." Bonds PR campaign aims to move away from this

exploitation of Mardi Gras by partnering with queer creators all throughout the year, not just over the

month of May.

A recent article from Mumbrella in 2022 outlines the

complexity of change campaigns and highlights some

Australian brands that are implementing them

successfully. Bonds UnGENderwear campaign is

mentioned for its commitment to the LGBTQIA+

community by announcing a three-year partnership

with Minus 18 in 2020. Minus 18 is a youth

organisation which is focused on “building social

inclusion and advocating for an Australia where all young people are safe, empowered and

surrounded by people that support them.” (Minus 18, 2022) This partnering with Minus 18 shows a

real tangible commitment to the LGBTQIA+ community, that stretches longer than just over the

month of pride.

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Most comments under Bonds Instagram posts

relating to their UnGENderwear project were

positive such as the ones above stating how their

posts were educating and empowering.

However, some of the comments under the same

post were not as kind, some commenters

accused Bonds of making “a quick buck”

while others did not agree with promoting

members of the LGBTQIA+ community, seen

in the screenshots on the bottom right. While

it is argued that Bonds should keep comments

up for discussion and transparency, it could be

contended that comments such as

@grizzly_smith are harmful to the community and should be taken down. Bonds did reply to

@[Link] comment, highlighting the action they are taking to support the community.

This reply is important from a PR perspective to reinforce that they are listening to queries from the

consumers and responding to their comments.

Change campaigns can be extremely powerful when implemented with care and caution for the

community that the brand is highlighting. Failure to uplift the movement or community with the right

ethical practise can result in a costly damage for the company, not only finically but can damage a

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business’s reputation too. However, if implemented right change campaigns can not only create

positive exposure for the business which in turn strengthens the businesses reputation but also assist

a community. Transparency and authenticity; are two major factors in helping a change campaign to

be successful, Bonds successfully manages to implement the two.

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References

Baker, Nick. (2020) Outrage as businesses accused of ‘exploiting’ Sydney’s Mardi Gras. With the

annual Mardi Gras parade days away, SBS News looks at how corporations are involved in

the event. SBS News. [Link]

of-exploiting-sydneys-mardi-gras/sbukkpidw

Bonds Australia, (2022) The Bonds Blog

[Link]

Bonds Australia, Instagram [Link]

Chatfield, Abbie. (2022) The feels on “Rainbow Capitalism” with Kath Ebbs. Its A lot Podcast,

Spotify Australia. [Link]

Elan, Priya. (2021) Pride rainbow merchandise is everywhere, but who gets the pot of gold? The

Guardian. [Link]

everywhere-but-who-gets-the-pot-of-gold

Sutherland, K. (2020) Change campaigns: public opinion and inspiration. In: S. Ali & U.

Khattab (eds.). Public relations and strategic communication. 1st edition. Oxford University

Press, Docklands, Victoria, Australia. pp. 173–203. [Link]

[Link]/lib/mqu/[Link]?docID=5979412&ppg=206.

Welch, Kalila. (2022) Moving beyond rainbow washing: how brands can support the LGBTQIA+

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community authentically. Mumbrella. [Link]

washing-how-brands-can-support-the-lgbtqia-community-authentically-727769