Activism and Advocacy Within Public Relations

Keywords: advocacy, activism, global climate activism, organization activism, social media activism

Image by Brett Jordan from Unsplash

Activism

Ben & Jerry’s, a well-known activist ice cream brand, has taken active efforts in many social issues: climate change, GMO labeling, LGBTQ+ quality, Fair Trade, and several others. During these campaigns, “Ben & Jerry’s strategically engaged its customers with unique ice cream flavors created/renamed and promoted for each specific campaign” (Epstein et al, p. 3, 2008). This demonstrates how philanthropic and active the company was in involving social issues.

In 2002, Ben & Jerry’s began to raise concerns about climate change. The article says, “When analyzing how Ben & Jerry’s handles its climate justice campaign, one learns how a company can integrate its brand and products while still displaying its corporate social responsibility” (Epstein et al, p. 25, 2008). The company provided its audience with information about ‘the accumulation of greenhouse gases’ throughout the process of making ice cream, which led to the audience and customers becoming more aware of the social issue.

The company engaged with the audience through events, new flavors, in-person interactions, etc. They believe that the ice cream flavors come from the customers. Ben & Jerry’s activism for climate change was expressed through their infrastructure, ingredients, and process, as well as their non-traditional public relations tactics.

Another example of activism within public relations is ‘Trouble in Paradise’, involving the Walt Disney Company. Disney prioritizes three social responsibility initiatives, ‘World of Belonging, ‘World of Balance, ’ and ‘World of Hope, ’ each serving different purposes to fulfill Disney’s goals.

Image by Meg Landrito from Unsplash

The Florida State Parental Rights in Education Act (House Bill 1557 or HB 1557 or “Don’t Say Gay” bill) was introduced in 2022 and the Disney corporation stayed silent for some time despite historically supporting LGBTQ+ rights. This led to Disney’s LGBTQIA+ Business Employee Resource Groups, advocacy groups and the public becoming unhappy with the company and angered with CEO Bob Chapek.

This then gained recognition from Governor Ron DeSantis and he believed that Disney should not get involved in the anti-LBGTQ legislation. Months following, he dissolved Disney’s Reedy Creek Improvement District.

The article says, “Due to the controversial nature of the bill and the proximity of the Walt Disney World Resort in Florida, many looked to The Walt Disney Company for its response,” which could be used to justify the lack of initial statements (Trouble in Paradise, p. 8, n.d.).

Following Florida’s HB 1557, Disney has since been active in expressing their support to the LGBTQ+ groups, but it still lacks the trust of its LGBTQ+ employees. Disney has also begun to include LGBTQ representations in films. Disney has continued to stay prominent in their support.

Organizational Activism

Dick’s Sporting Goods is one of the largest sports retail companies in America. The company sold a variety of sports accessories, equipment, apparel, footwear, outdoor activities and guns. However, in 2019, they announced the stop of gun sales at 125 of its locations.

During this time, gun rights were one of the most politically charged issues in America. With that, Dick’s Sporting Goods took a stand on the polarized issues through the ‘evolved corporate communication strategies related to gun sales and gun reforms’. The article given states, ‘The company has worked retroactively to connect the decision to its brand, taking advantage of the opportunity to redefine its values to stakeholders’.

From the beginning of the company, Dick’s Sporting Goods engaged in sponsoring teams and serving youth sports leagues.

One of the notes within this case is the rapid changes in communication between a corporation and stakeholders. The corporation pulled back their gun sale multiple times before the final stop, but failed to properly implement a communication plan to address the public or justify their reason. In 2018, they took a different approach of proactively communicating their decision to control the narrative and plan for backlash.

Dicks Sporting Goods was not usually positioning itself as a ‘value-led company’, but “this kind of activism might be expected by consumers from companies that have tied their brand to specific values”. (Revising the Playbook, p. 10, n.d.) This move by Dick’s Sporting Goods allowed them to readjust their values to the public and now more so focus on  ‘hard work and personal responsibility’.

Another statement from the article says, “Dick’s appears to have put itself in the vanguard among large brands taking a stand on social issues”, representing the lack of normal core business values and morals.

Overall, Dick’s put their reputation on the line as they took stances on issues that were not tied to their original purpose.

Social Media Activism

‘Social Media Activism’ or ‘hashtag activism’ is a type of activism that “can raise awareness of issues, organizations, and strategies through posts, graphics, videos, and more” (Soken-Huberty, para. 12, 2024). This is one of the most effective ways to promote, share information, raise awareness and much more.

One of the most popular ‘social media activism’ movements is the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge. The ALS Ice Bucket Challenge began in 2014 after Chris Kennedy took a plunge on behalf of his cousin’s husband. This got the attention of former Boston College baseball player, Pepe Frates, who had ALS and he challenged his friends and family…starting #icebucketchallenge.

Within weeks of Frate’s posts, the ALS Association saw the ‘trend’ and released an official statement. This was the start of an amazing thing for the organization as they grew in popularity and awareness of ALS.

This generated an ‘embracement’ of the situation and encouragement of involvement within the campaign.

Image by Major Tom Agency from Unsplash

The article says, ‘When an element of culture (ideas, styles, usage, and behavior) is spread by one person to another by imitation or other reproductive methods like digital media, a meme is created” (When every drop counts, n.d.).

As this seemed to be a lighthearted campaign, some critics questioned the intention of the participants as well as the nature of the challenge as ‘slacktivism’. However, the ALS Association was able to achieve more than anticipated and consistently expressed gratitude, showing supporters how their contributions made an impact.

In conclusion, activism has become more prominent in organizations and corporations. It is essential to recognize the significance and effectiveness of activism within an organization. Medium states, “In order to thrive in this new era, PR professionals must keep their campaigns honest and transparent while also being aware of the values and expectations of their target audiences” (Izryadnov, para.8, 2023).

References

Epstein, C. B., Garcia, L., Kent, R. L., Podolin, J. L., & Jin, Y. (2018). Ben & Jerry’s sends out an S.O.S.: An analysis of Ben & Jerry’s global climate activism. Case Studies in Strategic Communication, 7, 1-35. https://cssc-ojs-utexas.tdl.org/cssc/issue/view/7 

Izryadnov, A. (2023, July 7). Pr in the era of activism: Advocacy and social change campaigns. Medium. https://medium.com/@alexanderizryadnov/pr-in-the-era-of-activism-advocacy-and-social-change-campaigns-174df6932949

Revising the Playbook. Institute for PR. (n.d.). https://instituteforpr.org/wp content/uploads/https___page.org_wp-content_uploads_2023_11_REVISING_THE_PLAYBOOK_in_March__Case.pdf

Soken-Huberty, E. (2024, August 29). 13 types of activism. Human Rights Careers. https://www.humanrightscareers.com/issues/types-of-activism/

Trouble in Paradise. Institute for PR. (n.d.). https://instituteforpr.org/wp-content/uploads/TROUBLEINPARADISE_case.pdf

When every drop counts: ALS ice bucket challenge floods nonprofit with cash. (n.d.). https://canvas.ou.edu/courses/417712/files/126553339/download?download_frd=1