BizCom in the News

Nordstrom Email Supporting Gay Marriage

After the Chick-fil-A controversy this summer, companies are on edge about the issue of same-sex marriage. Rather than oppose the issue, the Nordstrom brothers have taken a strong stance, supporting a Washington state "Freedom to Marry" referendum.

In an email sent to all employees, three Nordstrom executive brothers declared their support:

From: Nordstrom, Blake

Sent: Thursday, October 11, 2012 8:03 AM

To: Leadership 2012

Subject: Freedom to Marry

October 11, 2012

To all employees:

We have long had a philosophical approach to our business to be inclusive about the way we serve customers as well as how we work to create a workplace where every employee is welcomed and respected. It’s simply how we operate.

With respect to our gay and lesbian employees, Nordstrom was an early adopter of adding sexual orientation to our anti-discrimination policy, which means we guarantee the same legal rights and protections in our workplace to gay and lesbian employees just as we do for other employees regardless of sex, race, color, creed, national origin, religion, age, marital status, pregnancy, physical, mental or sensory disability, and gender identity. This goes beyond the Federal government’s protection in Title VII, the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which still excludes sexual orientation. In 1998, we began offering life partner benefits to employees.

We feel the next step in this journey is to now support freedom to marry, also called marriage equality. There is a lot of awareness of this issue across the country and we’ve heard from many employees and customers. We gave this thoughtful consideration and felt the time was right to come out in support of this civil rights issue. It is our belief that our gay and lesbian employees are entitled to the same rights and protections marriage provides under the law as our other employees. We also believe supporting freedom to marry will help us create a more attractive and inclusive workplace for our current and prospective employees. Again – this decision is consistent with our long-time philosophy of inclusivity and equality for our customers and employees.

We recognize there are differing opinions about freedom to marry. We hope we’ve been clear about why we made this decision. To all of our employees – if you choose to talk about this with each other, please do so respectfully. We want you to be informed about our position so you can also respectfully answer any customer questions that come your way.

Thank you.

Blake, Pete, Erik

Blake Nordstrom, President, Nordstrom, Inc

Pete Nordstrom, President of Merchandising, Nordstrom

Erik Nordstrom, President of Stores, Nordstrom

According to GLAAD (The Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation), several companies have shown active support of same-sex marriage:

"Nordstrom joins many Washington-based companies who have come out in support for marriage equality, including REI, Expedia, Amazon, Starbucks, Microsoft, and Nike. In Minnesota, General Mills and Thomson Reuters have come out agains the proposed marriage amendment that would limit the freedom to marry. Carlson Company Chairman, Marilyn Carlson Nelson has been actively campaigning against the amendment. Additionally, GOP Hedge Fund billionaire Paul Singer made a donation to advocate for marriage equality in Maine."

GLAAD also cites a Washington poll showing support for Referendum 74 at 55%, compared to 40% opposed. Although this isn't a huge spread, the data may indicate that Nordstrom and other supporting companies are on the popular side of the vote.

Discussion Starters:

• What are the benefits and risks to Nordstrom, as a company, of showing its support for the referendum? 
• In the email, how do the Nordstrom brothers connect their beliefs to the mission and values of the company?

#FirstWorldProblems Become a Clean Water PSA

The Haitian charity "Water Is Life" has co-opted ironic #FirstWorldProblems tweets into a public service announcement for clean water. In the video, Haitians read the tweets, which are shown as captions. On the charity's website, Water Is Life, one of the photo captions reads, "Donate to help solve real problems."

The campaign is the work of ad agency DDB New York, which has been both applauded and criticized for the messaging. Business Insider posted an article, "Poor Haitians Reading #FirstWorldProblems Tweets Might Be The Best Ad Of The Year," calling the effect "both funny and moving."

Critics of the campaign accused DDB of misunderstanding the irony of the tweets: #FirstWorldProblems aren't problems at all—that's the point. But Matt Eastwood, who led the campaign, told Business Insider, "We totally understand the irony of it. People are doing it as a joke. It leads to a desensitization around the issue." He also said, "We knew we were going to upset a few people. People in Haiti don't have the luxuries these guys do."

In a press release, the agency described its mission:

 "DDB New York announced today that it is attempting to eliminate the #FirstWorldProblems hashtag on Twitter – the first mission to wipe out, instead of promote, a trending hashtag. #FirstWorldProblems showcases concerns that seem important to those living in wealthy, industrialized countries, yet are, in fact, trivial compared to the issues faced by those struggling to survive in many parts of the world. Though meant in jest, these tweets about "problems"—such as having to get up to change the TV channel or a phone charger that won't reach the bed — also reveal a lack of sensitivity or awareness about serious social and health concerns and the ways that social media users can help alleviate real problems."

AdWeek sums up the issue well: "Harnessing a spoof hashtag in PSAs to drum up press coverage, popular support, and donations—how first world can you get?"

  

Discussion Starters:

• What's your opinion of the video: funny, moving, insensitive, or something else?
• Do you think the ad will be effective is encouraging people to donate to Water Is Life?

Hollister Models Insult Asian Customers

Retailer Hollister has apologized for their models' offensive behavior during a store opening in South Korea.

The company brought in four foreign models to take pictures with customers. But the associates embarrassed the company by "making squinty eyes," "flipping their middle finger to photographers, and mocking Asian pronunciation of English appeared on their Twitter accounts," according to KoreaBANG.  

On its Facebook page, Hollister apologized for the incident:

On its website, in a section on careers, the company does have an extensive page about "Diversity and Inclusion."

Discussion Starters:

• How do you assess Hollister's response? Do you find it effective, empty, or something else?
• Some people have theorized that this incident could actually help the company's image, reinforcing the brand as edgy. What do you think?
• What about the company's Diversity and Inclusion webpage do you find most and least convincing?

McDonald's Slips on Communicating with the Hmong

Known for adapting its marketing campaigns to different cultures and countries, McDonald's has missed on at least one advertisement to the Hmong people in St. Paul, Minnesota.

Although the billboard translates roughly to "Coffee gets you up. Breakfast gets you going," locals say the grammar is incorrect, and "It sounds weird in Hmong because we don't really talk like that." A doctor at a St. Paul hospital said, "The text is also wrong, missing key breaks in the language" and "As it stands right now, it doesn't make sense at all."

The doctor also expressed concerns about McDonald's food:

"I think it's great that more mainstream businesses are realizing the buying (and) consumer power of the Hmong community. [But] chronic diseases like diabetes, hypertension and obesity are already a major health concern in the Hmong community. Most of this is attributed to the changing westernized eating behaviors that Hmong people have adapted to. McDonald's should instead focus more on healthy eating."

A representative from Arnold Advertising, which works with McDonald's restaurants in the area, said, "This is the first time that McDonald's anywhere in the country has advertised in Hmong." McDonald's targeted the Hmong people as one consumer group and "wanted to make sure we were communicating effectively with them." With tens of thousands of Hmong living in St. Paul, the area has more Hmong people than any other U.S. city.

In a statement by McDonald's regional marketing director, the company acknowledged that it fell short:

"We strive to reach our guests in relevant ways including the use of in-language messaging. While it was our intention to create a special message for our Hmong population in Minnesota, we now realize that an error was made in the translation of 'Coffee Gets You Up, Breakfast Gets You Going.' It was not our intention to offend anyone, and we apologize for the error. We are working with our local advertising agency to correct these billboards and will re-post next week."

Image source.

Discussion Starters:

• How could McDonald's have avoided this embarrassing situation?
• The company chose not to respond to the doctor's point about health concerns within the Hmong community. Should McDonald's have included a statement regarding this issue? Why or why not?

In Yearbook, Students Called "Mentally Retarded"

Mesquite High School in Texas printed yearbooks that referred to some students with special needs as "mentally retarded." "People-first language" is preferable to such labels. Parents and students were "shocked" and "appalled" at the use of the word. In addition, some students' photos were printed without permission.

 

Laura, Jobe, the district's communication director, blamed the editorial process: "There was an oversight in the editing approval process. Those who work inside the special education department know these requirements." She also said, "Some of the disabilities the students in the Special Education Program have are being blind, deaf or non-verbal … (students' names) are both blind and deaf, as well as mentally retarded." Did she miss the point?

On behalf of the district, Jobe offered this apology, "We earnestly regret the term ‘mentally retarded' was included… and offer our apologies to our students and their families." The school district has collected all yearbooks from students and is getting them reprinted with the errors corrected.

"Spread the Word to End the Word" strives to eliminate the use of the "r-word," which the campaign considers hate speech:

"When they were originally introduced, the terms 'mental retardation' or 'mentally retarded' were medical terms with a specifically clinical connotation; however, the pejorative forms, 'retard' and 'retarded' have been used widely in today’s society to degrade and insult people with intellectual disabilities. Additionally, when 'retard' and 'retarded' are used as synonyms for 'dumb' or 'stupid' by people without disabilities, it only reinforces painful stereotypes of people with intellectual disabilities being less valued members of humanity."

Discussion Starters:

• What should be the editoral process for approving text and photos in a high school yearbook?
• Who is responsible for the error?
• What's your view of the word "retarted"? Is it offensive, outdated, funny, or something else?