Conservatives – corporations are not your friend

Amazon is suspending police use of its face-recognition software, HBO Max has pulled Gone With the Wind and Paramount Network announced the cancelling of long-running series COPS. These and a steady stream of other corporate giants have taken unambiguous political stances in the wake of George Floyd’s killing and the protests that followed. It is a mistake to doubt their sincerity. There was a time when corporations feigned interest in black and ethnic minority consumers. Hollywood was particularly notorious for this and there was an entire glut of movies in the late 1990s and early 2000s that were marketed to the ‘urban’ demographic (they didn’t use the quote marks back then) by adding a single black character, often a rapper, but seldom as anything more than comic relief. Studio executives considered this highly progressive.

With this in mind, it is easy to dismiss these latest interventions as brazen bandwagon-jumping from brands not known for their boardroom diversity.