In today's day and age brands in the U.S. especially seem to be quite focused on social issues. So much so that it appears to be a common practice in their marketing scheme to take part in campaigns to support these issues wholeheartedly. Is this a charitable act on their part?
Or does it come off as just a social media stunt?
Let’s look at some history here: how many brands do we see flood their instagram feed with all the colors of the LGBTQ+ flag during pride month? Probably the vast majority of the ones that appear on our IG feed. Yet out of all these brands, how many do you think really worry about making a positive impact more than they care about selling products? It seems as if brands nowadays just have a calendar of social rights to follow for them to make communication about.

Let’s take Adidas as an example: in 2018 they came out with pride inspired products to help support the cause. At the same time they also were found to be one of the major sponsors for the World Cup that would be held in Russia. This move came off as quite hypocritical, as we all know Russia is not known to be an LGBTQ+ friendly nation.

Another incredibly blind take on social activism was brought out by Pepsi. Probably no one will ever be able to forget how much backlash Kendall Jenner got for appeasing an officer during a riot by handing him the cold beverage. This ad was so widely discussed that it was even parodied in an episode of the show “The Boys”.
If the issue had truly been at the forefront of the company’s ideals, then the campaign would have been thought out a bit more thoroughly. The way if came off, instead, made the ad seem like a last minute proposal, that was furthermore quite unsuccessfully executed.

While seeing these new trends, brands can't seem to wait to hop right on. Visa surely didn't want to be late to the party.
So on January 14th 2022 Visa publicly shared their new logo and brand identity. By doing so they wanted to shine light on how the brand is more than just a credit card company, as their chief marketing officer has said:  “What they don’t see is how those four letters operate the most dynamic network of people, partnerships and products.”
Their goal is to be more inclusive, while showing their consumers that Visa is for everyone and is here to make payments and transactions more approachable to a wider variety of clients.

The new logo consists of two lines with a space in the middle: an upper blue line, a space in between and a lower yellow line. 
As a visual representation of the equal sign, the new logo expresses the 3 key company goals: access, equality and inclusion.
The video concentrates on depicting all types of Visa users and all of them are drastically different, all races are included, people from all imaginable walks of life.

The rebrand was showcased via a video that, once viewed, can't help but leave you questioning if what you just saw was an inclusive brand's representation of what they aspire life to look like, or a caricature of what they think their customers want to see.
The amount of variety they tried to fit into one single video seems forced and excessive. Maybe not the most natural approach for a brand whose main client base still probably remains middle-aged white males. This does not mean they should not be trying to reach in different directions and evolve with today's society, but as a brand, they should be asking themselves how genuine this move looks in the eyes of the general public.

In a society that is proud to fight to move forward towards a better future, leaving prejudice behind while trying to create a system where equality reigns, and people aren’t judged by physical attributes, it can be very encouraging to see brands embrace social causes. At the heart of it, this can all seem noble and just. When does supporting a cause, though, cross over into a marketing ploy? 
The line is probably very thin between the two: not taking a stand at all can be detrimental to a brand’s reputation, but on the other hand, pushing a narrative that seems to be studied line for line from a "how to be woke" book can cause the sentiment to lose meaning.
These issues are new, and brands, just like us, are going to have to learn and adapt fast to an ever-progressing culture. The lines will be redefined as we go, but in the meantime, if you want to know more about the Visa rebranding, check out our video.