Not All Major Brands United Around Juneteenth

June 19 – or, Juneteenth – is a holiday celebrating the emancipation of those who had been enslaved in the United States. It took place last week on Friday, amid the ongoing Black Lives Matter protests.

Thousands of protesters marched through nearly 90 rallies across New York City alone, giving this day special meaning towards the fight for social justice.

Some major brands used this day to show their support and take action by connecting and engaging with their communities – allowing the rest of the world to learn and reflect through their messages. While other American household names just did much less.

TikTok

TikTok celebrated Juneteenth by dedicating a page on the app to its young userbase. The idea behind it is to educate them on Black history through thoughtful videos from social justice activists, organizations, and more.

“We are also partnering with BLKFREEDOM.org, a digital commemoration of Juneteenth, to connect users to this special initiative launched by six Black museums and historical institutions across the United States…” the page read.

Nike

The sporting goods giant, Nike, is a leader when it comes to activism (among other things). They posted on LinkedIn that they will close all retail stores on Juneteenth:

Target

The 8th largest retailer in the United States, Target, declared Juneteenth as an official annual company holiday – paving the way and influencing other brands to follow:

Twitter

Twitter also declared that they would honor Juneteenth as a company holiday in the United States.

In addition, CEO of Twitter, Jack Dorsey, tweeted that he was making a $3m donation to former NFL player, Colin Kaepernick’s Know Your Rights Camp to “advance the liberation and well-being” of Black communities.

General Motors

Executive Vice President of GM, Gerald Johnson, shared his experiences as a Black American in a video showing “his hope for a more just and inclusive future.” Besides, the company stated on a Facebook post:

“Today, our teams are observing 8 minutes and 46 seconds of silence in solidarity with the Black community.”

Watch the moving messages in the video here.

On the other hand, what may surprise you is that some brands stay neutral to this discussion.

Wendy’s

It seems like the all-American fast food restaurant chain didn’t post anything regarding racial equality and social justice during these past few weeks on Instagram nor Facebook, even though one of its restaurants went up in flames during protests.

They did the minimum on Twitter, though:

And with much criticism, the company posted this on LinkedIn:

Krispy Kreme

Curiously enough, the delicious donut maker did not post a thing regarding social equality amid the ongoing BLM and racial justice protests.

The North Carolina based company does dedicate a lot of posts to other celebrations, including Father’s Day, though.

It’ll be interesting to see if these different approaches result in different financial outcomes in the future.