Everything wrong with cancel culture
2021 was the year when cancel culture went max toxic!
The social media revolution is real, and it has arrived (quite a few years ago already). With people voicing their opinions about necessary causes, the internet has turned out to be a brilliant tool for bringing a positive change in society. But, this isn’t a digital fairytale that we are living, because the menace is here.
There’s a thin line between speaking the truth that deserves a significant platform and inciting a riot with your words. As a hyperactive society with cheap internet data plans, we are somehow tilting towards the latter gradually. Meet ‘CANCEL CULTURE’, the vigilante phenomenon that has sadly become the toxic partner of mob mentality. Unsurprisingly, the world of marketing is not immune to it either.
Technically, cancel culture means withdrawing your support for someone or something, when their point of view doesn’t match yours (somebody please take my internet access away). That’s almost what Forbes says too. Having said that, being a public-facing unit, a brand is always exposed to the risk of scrutiny and the fear of being cancelled for n number of reasons. Now, isn’t that scary? You bet it is!
There was a time when brands stayed away from politics or anything that could be deemed controversial. But in today’s world, you really can’t stay neutral or apolitical. Why should you? You’ve got to have a voice, right? You can’t be an uncool brand, you know. But when you finally find that damn voice, the flag bearers of cancel culture find reasons every day to cancel you. What are you supposed to do now? Example : Tanishq.
“I don’t like it. I will cancel you.” That’s a tad bit childish, don’t you think? In this era of keyboard warriors and social evangelists, things have gone a little bit out of hand (read this as ‘a lot’). The rift between ideologies is way bigger than it was ever before, and brands become the casualty to it every single day.
Being a marketer has become a dangerous path to tread on. One statement, one tiny lapse of judgement and there you are, trending all over Twitter and Insta stories as the not-so-hidden face of a major misfire. Trending for reasons you can’t boast to your friends about. In the longer term, that’s something you can’t erase from your resume now.
Storytelling through your brand is riskier than ever. Your brand cannot become the messiah and deliver the righteous message, as someone or the other will be offended by it because of the existence of extremely varying ideologies. Which is why, there’s the fear of creativity becoming people pleasing and honestly, boring! Not everyone understands humour or storytelling all the time, and when they hate it, they cancel it. Sigh!
Your past is going to haunt you! Stands true for individuals as well as brands. People have so much time to go through your content from a different era that they can go back into your past and feel offended by something that you said while you were still evolving as a brand and trying to find an identity. I feel sometimes brands really need/wish for a complete internet blackout so that haters can have a day of retreat.
Unfortunately, cancel culture is something brands and marketers really can’t hide from. Haters gonna hate and people gonna cancel (need that quote in popular culture). There is no real solution to this modern digital problem because there’s no right or wrong that exists anymore. As a marketer, you can only try controlling the narrative to avoid being cancelled or simply take the high road when you are.
Stick to your values because they always matter as a brand, but honestly, stay careful because being brave is something that doesn't always work in this polarised era we are living in. Unless you are a fearless brand who doesn’t care about having an open season for crisis management, you better be ready for such unforeseen (actually foreseen) outcomes.
UPDATE: Maybe it’s just perfect timing, but no words no explain any better than some quality audio and visuals. Falling In Reverse just released it’s new song around the time I wrote this, so let Ronnie Radke basically give you a TDLR: