‘They’re like Switzerland’: Brands walk tightrope between authenticity and political backlash
By Kimeko McCoy • March 28, 2025 •
Ivy Liu
The so-called culture wars have reached a fever pitch as of late as the polarization of the country continues. And as the lines between politics and pop culture continue to blur, brand marketers are tasked with showing up authentically and culturally relevant with the specter of political backlash looming large in the background.
Target, perhaps the most recent poster child of the supposed culture wars, saw boycotts and backlash earlier this year in response to its retooled diversity, equity and inclusion policies. Similarly, back in April of 2023, Bud Light landed itself in controversy for its campaign with transgender influencer Dylan Mulvaney.
With that backdrop in mind, brand marketers have seemingly been walking a tightrope–eager to have watercooler moments that are authentically part of culture, but careful to avoid being caught in the fray of politics and alienating customers.
Marketers point to brands like Nike and Estée Lauder who have landed culturally relevant messages targeting women without crossing into political territory. At this year’s Super Bowl, Nike unveiled its “So Win” campaign featuring female athletes Jordan Chiles, Caitlin Clark, Sabrina Ionescu, Sha’Carri Richardson, A’ja Wilson and Sophia Wilson. This month, beauty brand Estée Lauder tapped actress Kristen Bell, a self-proclaimed “chronically awake” mom.
“A lot of it has come down to our clients having to think about messaging that is very encompassing,” said Christina Peña Brower, COO and founding partner at NewWorld, a marketing and strategy consultancy.
The agency has done creative work for A24 entertainment company, YouTube, the international non-governmental organization Human Rights Watch and others. Many of the agency’s clients, Brower said, are marketing from “a perspective of economic justice or climate or gender, health, or any number of things,” rather than focus on racial or gender identity, cognizant of the new cultural norm, she added.
It’s a similar story at Valerie, a creative agency and consultancy. Anecdotally speaking, every brief has the word culture in it without naming any goals to target audiences by race, said Simeon Coker, head of creative at Valerie. On one hand, clients are side stepping identity, fearful of alienating shoppers, he said. On the other hand, the agency is recommending clients tap influencers to do storytelling on behalf of the brand, and target audiences with more nuance beyond race and gender.
“To avoid anything feeling negative, they’re like Switzerland,” Coker said.
Call it a wink or nod at things like women’s empowerment or racial equity as opposed to the outright marketing around social justice movements seen back in 2021, on the heels of the Black Lives Matter movement, said Katie Hooper, co-founder and CEO of Notorious111 creative agency.
And here are very few brands that can authentically market around social justice, said Hooper who added brands should be clear about what they want to be known for and support communities they can authentically without drawing the ire of communities they don’t serve.
That’s not to say brands shouldn’t back social causes, but that in this political and cultural climate, brands will need to rethink what is authentic to them and drive purpose without being explicit, Hooper said.
“It’s really difficult because right now there’s so much that is being assigned to political cause.”
To Hooper’s point, being caught in political minefields isn’t a new phenomenon for Dame, a sexual wellness brand that sued and won a settlement with The New York Metropolitan Transportation Authority back in 2021 to become first female-founded pleasure product brand approved to advertise city-wide through the MTA.
Alexandra Fine, CEO and co-founder of Dame said the brand never set out to be political, but rather as a sexual wellness brand. “The political feels like it’s put upon me,” she said, adding that politics impacts the business, even down to where Dame’s ads are allowed to run (a la the MTA lawsuit).
“I ultimately subscribe a little bit to everything is political,” Fine said. “There’s nuance there and obviously some things are more overly political than others, but it’s not as separate as we like to think it is.”
Marketers have long since chased the idea of authenticity, especially with the advent of TikTok, to be actually part of cultural moments rather than just advertising around them. But as politics and pop culture continue to cross paths, the idea of authenticity may look different going forward.
“Sometimes, clients are better served not joining the conversation but rather using their platform as a space for their community to come together and foster dialogue,” said Kyle DeWitt, chief strategy officer of Loaded and Open World.
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