R.I.P. VMP Forum

yeah i feel real gross about vmp suddenly selling rainbow merch with "profits" (vague amounts are telling. tell me it works out to $12 from a $20 hat or whatever) going to an lgbtq+ org. they gave us (myself, @Bradley, @MaxPGH, and @tylershippit for sure) a lot of shit about asking for inclusivity in picks for a long time but sure seem happy to slap overpriced bundles together to claim they're allies. i felt real uneasy with their display of THIS IS QUEER MUSIC!!! SEE, THESE PEOPLE ARE THE GAYS! on that specific page of the website bc they've always been lousy at representation and dialogue in the past. it feels like capitalizing on the month, like the other big brands we criticize so frequently, instead of creating a thoughtful partnership. maybe it's a step in the right direction, but it...doesn't feel like enough to me.
 
helllord said:
yeah i feel real gross about vmp suddenly selling rainbow merch with "profits" (vague amounts are telling. tell me it works out to $12 from a $20 hat or whatever) going to an lgbtq+ org. they gave us (myself, @Bradley, @MaxPGH, and @tylershippit for sure) a lot of shit about asking for inclusivity in picks for a long time but sure seem happy to slap overpriced bundles together to claim they're allies. i felt real uneasy with their display of THIS IS QUEER MUSIC!!! SEE, THESE PEOPLE ARE THE GAYS! on that specific page of the website bc they've always been lousy at representation and dialogue in the past. it feels like capitalizing on the month, like the other big brands we criticize so frequently, instead of creating a thoughtful partnership. maybe it's a step in the right direction, but it...doesn't feel like enough to me.
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also like. they can totally choose not to do anything. that's fine. a business is a business. whatever. i personally would rather them do nothing (or something like "hey this is important, so this month we're donating $1 from every record bought in the store") instead of turning it into a branding thing. you're not historically good allies of women, poc, or queer artists (or forum members, if that counts for anything), so having items that show your brand in telling rainbow long past june feels like unfair exposure.

but also i get the argument that any dollar to the trevor project is helpful to those that need it. it's fine. i'm just angry at everything all the time and want more. the community deserves more. it deserves genuine.
 
helllord said:
also like. they can totally choose not to do anything. that's fine. a business is a business. whatever. i personally would rather them do nothing (or something like "hey this is important, so this month we're donating $1 from every record bought in the store") instead of turning it into a branding thing. you're not historically good allies of women, poc, or queer artists (or forum members, if that counts for anything), so having items that show your brand in telling rainbow long past june feels like unfair exposure.

but also i get the argument that any dollar to the trevor project is helpful to those that need it. it's fine. i'm just angry at everything all the time and want more. the community deserves more. it deserves genuine.
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Historically, they've done poorly with partnerships. I don't see this as being about the cause. I see this as trying to paint the shitshow that is VMP at this point in a more positive light. It's all smoke and mirrors.
 
helllord said:
also like. they can totally choose not to do anything. that's fine. a business is a business. whatever. i personally would rather them do nothing (or something like "hey this is important, so this month we're donating $1 from every record bought in the store") instead of turning it into a branding thing. you're not historically good allies of women, poc, or queer artists (or forum members, if that counts for anything), so having items that show your brand in telling rainbow long past june feels like unfair exposure.

but also i get the argument that any dollar to the trevor project is helpful to those that need it. it's fine. i'm just angry at everything all the time and want more. the community deserves more. it deserves genuine.
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I’m a big fan of the idea of x amount of $/record goes towards organization. They could even sneakily raise everything by a $1 and no one would notice so they wouldn’t even be losing money over it.

Like those hats are fine, I don’t think I’d wear one but they’re kinda cool. I would also have to think about do I need a rainbow item just because I want to support a charity. I’m better off donating separately which would prevent consumerism of needing more stuff that’s just going to go into a landfill eventually.
 
I've gone back and forth the last 20 years on the whole rainbow branding thing. When I was 25, I would have loved this. Twenty years ago, pride specific marketing was pretty rare. I really only remember alcoholic beverage companies doing it. When my company created pride specific merchandising that could be bought at the company store I was all over it. I would wear it to work or public events where I was a representative of my company (i.e. getting paid while wearing it or at community pride events). For me, the companies that are doing it right are creating pride clothing that doesn't have the company logo anywhere but the inside label. For example, Lane Bryant has had a line of "Love is Love" clothing with various rainbow prints/logos but their company name is nowhere to be found.
 
Kris said:
I've gone back and forth the last 20 years on the whole rainbow branding thing. When I was 25, I would have loved this. Twenty years ago, pride specific marketing was pretty rare. I really only remember alcoholic beverage companies doing it. When my company created pride specific merchandising that could be bought at the company store I was all over it. I would wear it to work or public events where I was a representative of my company (i.e. getting paid while wearing it or at community pride events). For me, the companies that are doing it right are creating pride clothing that doesn't have the company logo anywhere but the inside label. For example, Lane Bryant has had a line of "Love is Love" clothing with various rainbow prints/logos but their company name is nowhere to be found.
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yep, agreed. also if i really felt that the company was a good partner, i’d be less bothered by the branding. if i aligned myself with vmp in any way, i’d be less bothered by the branding. it’s a flawed model in general, but there’s an argument to be made that it’s better than no effort at all. i just think it’s time that it’s handled with more intention. there’s plenty of viral feedback on flop attempts online. use it. or like idk actually ask queer people what would be a good show of support?
 
helllord said:
yep, agreed. also if i really felt that the company was a good partner, i’d be less bothered by the branding. if i aligned myself with vmp in any way, i’d be less bothered by the branding. it’s a flawed model in general, but there’s an argument to be made that it’s better than no effort at all. i just think it’s time that it’s handled with more intention. there’s plenty of viral feedback on flop attempts online. use it. or like idk actually ask queer people what would be a good show of support?
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I mean, it's not the pride rainbow. It's a washed-out, reversed, stylistic suggestion of the rainbow.
 
wokeupnew said:
Man, wtf happened to Clay, he was one of us then went all corporate. Disappointing 😔
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man pays the bills so gotta toe the company line. Also and to be completely fair, anyone at VMP is in a bubble of “see it from our side we have the complete picture you don’t see etc etc” A bit like Pauly claiming the Forum closing had nothing to do with criticism. Which even if he believed that - What complete and utter bollox
 
wokeupnew said:
Man, wtf happened to Clay, he was one of us then went all corporate. Disappointing 😔
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Absorbed into the machine.

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I ventured onto Reddit last night - more out of curiosity wondering how VMP are integrating into it. Eurghhh it is not user friendly at all! I couldn’t even get the comments in date order FFS - what is all that about. Doesn’t appear to be gaining much traction or interest either.
If they were hoping to get same out of Reddit then I think they are in for a tough slog of apathy.
 
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