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Jon Stewart wants everyone to 'stop pretending' corporations can support Pride

Jon Stewart speaking megaphone
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The Daily Show host is celebrating Pride Month, also known as "that time of year when corporations get together and financially exploit the decades-long struggle of gay people."

Jon Stewart is fed up with companies co-opting LGBTQ+ Pride for their own bottom line.

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The Daily Show host recently roasted the cringe-worthy Pride campaigns of several corporations, including Burger King, Skittles, and Target. Stewart claimed that companies have recently been using the queer community for their own financial gain after decades of turning their backs of them.

“Pride Month is, of course, that time of year when corporations get together and financially exploit the decades-long struggle of gay people for acceptance and equality," Stewart said in Monday's episode. "Remember when you were fired from that bank job after you were outed? Well, Burger King does! With a burger that has two bottom buns!"

Stewart delivered the joke next to an onscreen article about a Burger King campaign that promoted "two equal buns" on their burgers for Pride Month. The comedian then turned his attention to Target, which recently announced it will only be stocking Pride merchandise in half of its stores this year after conservative outrage impacted sales.

While many were disappointed that the company seemingly stopped supporting its queer customers, Stewart questioned if it is even possible for corporations to support causes, whether they be LGBTQ+ Pride, Black Lives Matter, or "traditional American values."

"Why are we allowing ourselves to get worked up over whether giant multinational corporations are pro-gay or have traditional American values?" Stewart asked. "Because corporations have but one value: shareholder value. That’s all they have. There is nothing corporations do that is not in service of their bottom line."

He continued: "Let’s stop pretending that a corporation can even be woke or unwoke or patriotic or unpatriotic. Let’s just let corporations live their truth as the profit-seeking, Patrick Bateman psychopaths they are. At the very least, we might finally get some honesty.”

Jon Stewart Smashes the Myth of Corporate Morality in Pride, BLM, and Beyond | The Daily Show

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Ryan Adamczeski

Ryan is a reporter at The Advocate, and a graduate of New York University Tisch's Department of Dramatic Writing, with a focus in television writing and comedy. She first became a published author at the age of 15 with her YA novel "Someone Else's Stars," and is now a member of GALECA, the LGBTQ+ society of entertainment critics, and the IRE, the society of Investigative Reporters and Editors. In her free time, Ryan likes watching New York Rangers hockey, listening to the Beach Boys, and practicing witchcraft.
Ryan is a reporter at The Advocate, and a graduate of New York University Tisch's Department of Dramatic Writing, with a focus in television writing and comedy. She first became a published author at the age of 15 with her YA novel "Someone Else's Stars," and is now a member of GALECA, the LGBTQ+ society of entertainment critics, and the IRE, the society of Investigative Reporters and Editors. In her free time, Ryan likes watching New York Rangers hockey, listening to the Beach Boys, and practicing witchcraft.