Jon Stewart took on corporate America’s performative sincerity in the latest episode of The Daily Show. After paying tribute to Pat Sajak, who stepped down from Wheel of Fortune after 41 seasons, Stewart pivoted: “He is gone, ironically, just in time for Pride Month.”
“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,” said the host in Monday’s monologue, before directing the audience to Burger King’s very real and unfortunate “Pride Whopper” made with “two equal buns, Skittles’ colorless “Pride Pack” declaring “only #OneRainbow matters,” and an Oreo ad showing a family “overcoming a father’s deep conservative values” with a rainbow-painted fence.
Stewart then turned to Target, which announced last month that it would scale back on its 2024 Pride Month collection following last year’s far-right backlash over its LGBTQ Pride-themed merchandise.
“That’s the burden corporations must bear,” Stewart mocked. “They care almost too much about the human condition, often finding themselves in the crosshairs of ideologues and fundamentalists. But they stand by their values. Sometimes for a couple of months!”
The host also took a moment to spotlight Bud Light’s partnership with trans actor and activist Dylan Mulvaney, which prompted conservative talking heads to boycott the company and Kid Rock to tearfully fire into cases of the beer. In an attempt to placate conservatives, Anheuser-Busch’s CEO released a carefully crafted PR statement, and as Stewart highlighted, a very weird ad about a horse.
“But don’t be sad,” Stewart quipped. “This is only following in a long line of hollow corporate pandering meant to convince you that not only are corporations people, they’re good people. Decent people who care about the systemic ills of this great nation.”
He also pointed out how quick corporations were to tout their dedication to diversity following the 2020 protests that erupted across the nation following the police killing of George Floyd, and how D.E.I. job postings saw a massive drop in 2023. “Their commitment only lasted until the protests died down,” remarked the late-night host. “They’re very clearly conflicted between the high moral values they think we want and the amoral values that serve their shareholders.”