Josh Taylor-Dadds, Strategy Director at Special NZ, shares his thoughts on lessons learnt from the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 and how brands can be better allies.
As a kid football was the first place I felt different. To be fair, I was shit at it. But the discomfort was bigger than that.
I have two stand out football memories.
The first, in Priory Park in London with my dad. He was coaching me on how to be a footballer. We’re really close now, but that day the valiant effort at bonding made me feel alone.
Thinking about it 26 years later my stomach still tightens. Not that my dad could know, I’ve never told him (and hopefully he isn’t a reader of StopPress).
The second memorable moment of my footballing career was in the playground of my second school. This one’s hazier. I missed a shot, ending up in a fight with a kid called JJ. He wasn’t a better player, but I knew he fit in and I didn’t. Something made him a part of the team, and me an outsider.
Over the years I found sports I love but they’re mostly individual. There’s no doubt in my mind I am poorer for missing out on the camaraderie of team sport.
The brotherhood the lads in the playground intuitively tapped into is something I still struggle to access. Although I’m getting better.
If football is the people’s game, it definitely wasn’t for people like me.
The battle for allyship in the beautiful game
At the start of the World Cup, seven countries were due to wear the ‘OneLove’ captain’s armband supporting inclusivity. A brave statement in Qatar, a country that imprisons or executes its gays.
The combined population of the nations set to make a stand is 186 million. This would have been a show of unity on a scale not seen before. A historic milestone in allyship between football and the LGBT+ community.
But, of course, that’s not what happened. As the tournament kicked off it looked like the teams had backed down.
Football was sending a message. I was right. The shame I felt as a child was exactly what I should feel.
Then Germany took to the pitch.
They posed for a photo covering their mouths before the game. Shortly after they released a statement:
“Denying us the armband is the same as denying us a voice…It wasn’t about making a political statement – human rights are non-negotiable.”
It was defiant and unequivocal and emotional. It’s the clearest most powerful piece of queer allyship I’ve seen in sport. Powerful because there was risk.
They didn’t know the cost, but nor did it matter.
Because “Human rights are non-negotiable”.
In the moments where the stakes of allyship get high, why is it that some people, organisations and brands rise higher still while others capitulate?
Of course, there are lessons in all of this for brands, who increasingly seek to communicate with diverse and unheard audiences.
A few I thought I would proffer:
Lesson 1: Know why you’re here
Virtue signalling, opportunism, selling shit to people…there are a lot of bad reasons brands support or communicate to audiences like the LGBT+ community.
The antidote to tokenism is a simple question not asked enough – why are we here? Relatively few can really articulate the impact they want to have in people’s lives and why it matters. The German team knew exactly what they stood for, and why doing something was important.
Lesson 2: It’s not the thought that counts
Slapping a rainbow on it at pride doesn’t make you an ally. It’s actions that really change lives. And they do so in two ways. Firstly, it requires action to create changes in the way the world works needed to drive equality forward.
And secondly, action breeds conviction in the ally organisation. Taking a stand commits you to the cause, connecting you to people in a way that a rainbow logo never will.
Mastercard True Name is a great example. An initiative that allows transgender people to use their true first name across their cards without needing a legal name change. True Name now runs in 32 countries across the world.
Lesson 3: Know what you are willing to lose
Supporting LGBT+ audiences is about changing the status quo to improve the world for the people living in that community. It’s a form of protest, and with protest there is sacrifice.
Brands ought to consider what they’re willing to give up. If shit gets real, where’s the line? There is no point pretending there isn’t a limit. Be honest about the commitment you’re willing to make. Put it into briefs. Tell the whole business. Back yourself. If you feel you can’t, please see lesson 1.
The Qatar World Cup might be (nearly) over, but the need for allyship isn’t
As the World Cup comes to an end, let’s hope that beyond the missed penalties, surprise performances and celebrity tantrums, we all leave Qatar with a bigger, more long-lasting message.
How to be an ally – be that as a person or as a brand. These three things might seem simple but in reality, they are the golden rules of allyship in any circumstance.
With the FIFA Women’s World Cup coming to our shores next year, what better time to show that the brands of New Zealand know how to stand up for what they believe in?
