NO WOOLLIES PRIDE CAMPAIGN IN ESWATINI

MBABANE – Eswatini Woolworths store will not endure the backlash following that South Africa (SA) has been criticised for running the Woollies Pride campaign through its merchandise.

This is because the clothing retailer will not run the campaign in Eswatini. Woolworth stores in SA came under fire from some people online after launching its Pride Month campaign, with some customers threatening to boycott the store over its new lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer and intersex (LGBTQI)+ community merchandise which was displayed.

Celebration

The retailer is currently running the Woollies Pride campaign in celebration of the International Pride month in support of the LGBTQI+ community in SA. According to SA online news outlet 702, the pride campaign, using the tagline ‘Be an Ally’, includes T-shirts, sweatpants, socks, bags and hats. A portion of the sales will go towards a number of LGBTQI+ charities in SA, as stated in the news outlet. It quoted Woolworths having said; “We know that there’s always more to be done, and we’ll keep looking for ways to enable, uplift and celebrate the LGTBQIA+ community.”

It further reads that while the campaign got the nod from many South Africans, others took to social media to blast Woolworths and boycott the retailer for the campaign. A local customer, who asked the Eswatini branch if there were plans to run the campaign, said the store was not conducting the campaign, although they would have liked to participate.  The customer was informed that the store did not participate in some of the international campaigns and promotions. When questioned whether the campaign was conducted across all Woolworths retail stores internationally, the Woolworths Press Office in SA stated that it was limited to SA because the LGBTQI+ rights were protected under the Constitution of South Africa. “We are cognisant of the laws of each country within which we operate,” reads a statement from the press office.

According to the statement, the Woollies Pride campaign was conducted annually in June, which is the International Pride Month, further stating that it formed part of the Woolworths Inclusive Justice Initiative, a group-wide position that they had taken against marginalisation and a strategy towards embracing diversity and inclusion. “The Inclusive Justice Initiative sets out to acknowledge the extent to which certain groups in our society are marginalised and to help shift their marginalisation to inclusion and belonging,” the statement reads in part.
Regarding the backlash, the press office stated that Woolworths had always appreciated and valued the feedback from its customers and that while the response to the Woollies Pride campaign had been largely positive, they were deeply saddened that the campaign had been felt to be offensive and negatively received by some people within their communities. “It was never our intention to cause division. To the contrary, the overarching objective of the campaign, and our broader Woolworths Inclusive Justice Initiative, is to contribute to a world where everyone feels they belong.”

Relevant

This, they stated, was particularly relevant in a country like theirs, with a number of people with different belief systems and from all walks of life. Furthermore, they stated that the Woolies Pride campaign was not the first for them. Last year, they said they focused on issues of gender equity during Women’s Month in August and in December their #EndTheSilence campaign, which honoured 16 Days of Activism. It should be noted that social media users were actually divided about the campaign, with some finding nothing offensive about it, in particular because SA embraced and was welcoming towards the LGBTQI+ community.

‘WE WELCOME MOVE’

MBABANE – “We welcome support from capitalist organisation movements and profit making organisations to stand with them to ensure that there is protection for all.” These sentiments were shared by Melusi Simelane from the Southern Africa Litigation Centre. Simelane is also the founding Director of Eswatini Sexual and Gender Minorities. He said, however, they saw a hijack by the capitalist for their own gain, where organisations like Woolworths and other big brands paraded clothing with LGBTQI+ colours for the marketing of their merchandise. “The problem with this is that they use the campaigns like the LGBTQI Pride month and women’s month, among others, to promote themselves for profit,” he alleged.

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