I think it's that the world has changed into having fractured multiple cultures.

In the 80s/90s being gay was considered by general society to be an insult. If you're under 25, the concept of something being negative being called "gay" as the standard insult just sounds made up.

But people who are 40 years old may remember being in school, and you got a D on a quiz. Your buddy might say "You got a D? That's gay."

Had nothing to do with actual homosexuality. It's just that's what society was. Being gay wasn't accepted, and it was cool and trendy to hate on gays to the point that it wasn't questioned if you called anything bad "gay".

It's impossible to place an exact date on when the culture changed, because it likely changed at different times for different regions. I assume California was the first to change.

I first noticed the shift in pop culture around 2003. There was a russian pop singer duo/band called tatu. Terrible music, but they kissed in their one hit wonder music video.

The reactions I saw on MTV were people saying they were brave for being openly gay. Whereas if it would have happened in the 80s, I'm sure they'd have gotten death threats.

And I STILL see people who don't accept gay people.

So society is now fractured on what popular belief is. Now it's more like several circles, who all have different views. As opposed to one giant unified viewpoint, with those not conforming left on the outside in the underground.

Because that's just one topic. There's other people who are ok with gay people, but not ok with trans. So thats another circle. Now imagine every single viewpoint which has a counter viewpoint.

Whereas in the 80s, something like 92% of the vote went towards reagan, and everybody conformed to the preapproved normal viewpoints. We don't do that anymore. We each find our own meaning of normal.

Now me personally, I don't find giving a nazi salute to be normal. But you'll still find herds of people defending musk. You'll also find people like me who say fuck musk, and fuck any self identifying nazi. So, another example of how different people are now in different circles.

Go fasch, lose cash

Not woke? Go broke.

Go woke or go broke.

RuneScape regularly does holiday events. Theyve done it for Christmas and Halloween as far back as RS1 - like, the Christmas hats are the iconic RuneScape thing. People have paid obscene amounts of real money for them.

The Pride event was no different. You get fun little items for completing a silly little quest. It’s not even like mega “gay”, it’s just cute and inclusive.

Its a tradeoff, we know they only do things for the bottom line but having pridr celebrations did reinforce exactly what the pride movement wanted to push. My work isnt that bad tbh they have a committee that runs talks and discussions on equity and exclusion and the likes. The committee likely doesnt cost much, but they get to champion it and the people in that community feel welcomed and it does help breakdown barriers.

I used to believe that too, because it was pointless. But it seems that i was wrong. The fact that it was pointless, means that the corporations felt comfortable with using and abusing that to maximize profit. The fact that they are afraid to do that, indicates how fucked things are now.

So i am ok with corporations using movements for marketing reasons, because ultimately this is the canary in the mine. If the corporations consider it a brand risk, then society is moving towards the wrong direction.

If you mean this about any Christmas, seasonal, 4th of July, Halloween, Easter, etc events… sure. But taking out just the Pride event is targeted.

Half agree. Even if many of them are just money-hungry, there is still a ton of non-fiscal value in making it clear that queerness is not a shameful anomaly and can instead be a point of both strength and pride. Lots of kids out there are stuck in families that want them to believe the exact opposite, when they genuinely need to know that the world has more to offer than just that.

I don't appreciate companies trying to capitalize on this, but as a friend and sibling to many queer folk (and as well as being a bit fruity myself, even if not fully this or that), I think this visibility is currently very necessary and possibly even life saving for some severely stuck folks. Even if the motivation is obviously crook, I can get behind giving those people the inspiration they need to accept and understand themselves in spite of those who would rather see them hating themselves or worse.

Never be fooled into believing that corporations are your friend. They are always just looking to chase profits.

But if corporations believe that Pride is profitable, that is a sign that society is headed in the right direction. Whereas if they turn around because Pride is no longer profitable, that is a cause for worry.

Can something be good and also a marketing tactic?