Global Companies Are Celebrating Same Sex Marriage Equality

OfficeChai Team

The US Supreme Court on Friday announced a ruling legalizing same sex marriages across 50 states in the US. The decree sent a wave of rainbow pride across the country and in major parts of the world.

US corporations, many of them global giants, did not shy away from displaying their support and pride about the paradigm decision. Their rainbow pride in the home country manifested in many ways, including social media profile photo changes,  messages, product renames, blogposts, and enabling user-generated content.

Here’s a round-up of some of the major companies and the way they’ve come forward to go rainbow.

1. Facebook

Facebook has been known to lend its voice and reach towards various causes. CEO Mark Zuckerberg himself posted a note celebrating the ruling and also said that this was just beginning of good things to come. Facebook also announced that more than 6 million of its American users have identified themselves on the social network as LGBTQ, the first time it has released such a statistic. It also highlighted a video of a man who started an LGBTQ Facebook group in California to help teens and young adults find resources and acceptance.

Facebook also enabled a rainbowfy-your-profile-photo filter. Newsfeeds have been awash with people celebrating this landmark day, and rainbow colours splashed all over the timelines thanks to the rainbow profile photos

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2. Uber

Uber not only changed its profile photo, but also initiated a contest “Ride With Pride” inviting users to share their pride story.

 

3. Ben & Jerry’s

The popular ice cream and confectionery company was quick on its feet and has renamed its chocolate chip cookie as “I dough I dough”. It also on its blog mentioned how Ben & Jerry’s has been proudly committed to issues of social justice, including gay rights and marriage equality, for over 35 years. “Back in 1989, we were the first company in Vermont to offer full benefits to same-sex partners of our employees. To see this chapter in U.S. history finally close is almost beyond belief. To celebrate the occasion, this summer we’re renaming our Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough ice cream ‘I Dough, I Dough,’ along with a special commemorative pint sleeve.”

 

4. Starbucks

Starbucks on its official Twitter page, posted a photo of a gay pride flag hoisted on top of one of its outlets.

 

5. Apple

CEO Tim Cook, who came out publicly earlier this year and has long been a champion of gay rights, paised the decision by recalling his company’s famous “Crazy Ones” quote, co-written by his late, close friend Steve Jobs.

 

 

In an earlier tweet, Apple’s CEO stated that the Supreme Court ruling “marks a victory for equality, perseverance and love.”

 

6. Twitter

The popular microblogging platform that saw millions of tweets on the Supreme Court ruling, also sent out a tweet from its official handle, celebrating the day and launching two new Pride Emojis that show up automatically on hashtagging #pride and #loveWins.

7. Game of Thrones

Not just companies, but the hugely popular series Game Of Thrones, posted a cartoonised image of one of the characters, who plays a gay character in the series, with a tweet from the official handle.

 

8. Google

Google has been at the forefront of celebrating festivals and landmark days with its special Doodles and has beeen lauded for supporting and celebrating diversity and LGBT rights at work. However giving the Doodle a skip, Google celebrated in many other ways. Google’s YouTube displayed a special message on the homepage, and Google-owned Android created a special microsite with animated GIFs, apart from showing a surprise graphic on searching on “Same Sex marriage” or related terms.

 

Companies which have hitherto shied away from making statements or supporting controversial issues in the fear of polarizing their audience, have shown their support to various causes of late. This could be a sign of the new wave of corporations that purport to be human, relatable rather than detached machineries of commerce and profits.