![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.therightbrainstudio.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/QAnon-Protester.jpeg\")
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I\u2019ve been thinking a lot about QAnon lately. To use the most scholarly, professional terms possible, it\u2019s a bat shit crazy conspiracy theory has moved to the mainstream, punctuated by the nomination of an active QAnon supporter for a seat the United States House of Representatives in Georgia. And she\u2019s considered a shoo-in to win as her district is so heavily Republican.<\/p>\n
You might chalk this up to just another racist, anti-Semitic Republican joining other like-minded colleagues in Congress, but this one believes there\u2019s a deep state conspiracy led by satanic-worshiping pedophiles trying to take over the state, and the only defense is the \u201cStorm\u201d that will eventually be launched by God\u2019s hand-picked savior, Donald J. Trump that will expose and punish these evil doers.<\/p>\n
When I was a young boy I used to stare at the headlines of the National Enquirer and other tabloids as my mom checked out in the supermarket. \u201cHitler is alive!\u201d \u201cJFK was never killed! Photos prove he lives in solitude on a deserted island!\u201d\u00a0 Even as a kid, I thought to myself, do people really believe this stuff?<\/p>\n
Yes, people do. One tenet of QAnon insanity is that JFK Jr. never died in that plane crash. He\u2019s alive and well, a huge Trump supporter living in Pittsburgh, who will emerge on the 4th<\/sup> of July. Like father like son. Not Dead Yet! Coming back to save us!<\/p>\n People have a need to belong that can be downright scary, and now that we are all isolated, belonging is that much harder. You can\u2019t go to work. Or your book club meeting. Or Tuesday poker night. No crowding the sports bars to see your favorite teams play. No congregating for religious services. No going to the gym with your workout buddies or yoga class. And no shared workplace.<\/p>\n Sure, most of that can happen online, but it\u2019s just not the same.<\/p>\n How can companies continue to inspire and promote a sense of community if it\u2019s all virtual? No chance meetings around the coffee machine that might spark a new idea or a new collaboration. No Apple-style extravaganzas with employees going wild over the arrival of the company\u2019s latest innovations. The office, like any other institution or social construct, is the place where we belong to something \u201cbigger.\u201d It provides a variety of benefits including status, a place to go and a built-in set of friends and acquaintances.<\/p>\n The office gives us purpose. It\u2019s a place we go for work, a part of our lives that, at least in theory, is separate from home, hobbies, family and friends.<\/p>\n So, what happens when people are bored, frustrated and angry, and have no other \u201cplace\u201d to go than online? QAnon happens.<\/p>\n By all accounts, the movement has grown exponentially since the pandemic set in, with Facebook, for one, reporting hundreds of QAnon groups with millions of members.<\/p>\n Ben Franklin was right. \u201cIdle hands are the devil\u2019s playground.\u201d Though in this case, the conspiracists would have you believe that it\u2019s the Democrats, the \u201cDeep State\u201d and the Jews who are consorting with the devil.<\/p>\n What this brings to mind is David Ogilvy\u2019s famous axiom, \u201cThe consumer is not a moron. She\u2019s your wife.\u201d\u00a0 No longer politically correct, for good reason, the quote simply states what all of us learn in Marketing 101: Great companies must have a relentless focus on their consumers. \u201cThe consumer is always right.\u201d<\/p>\n I have always believed in honoring consumer wants and needs – no matter what – but the election of Trump \u2013 and probably watching Bill Maher<\/a> too often \u2013 has me doubting the conventional wisdom<\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n Somewhere around 35% of the country is living in an alternate universe. I\u2019m past the point of thinking that all opinions matter and that \u201cboth sides\u201d may have equally valid points. It\u2019s just not true. There are many voters (who are also consumers) that are just dead wrong. This is not Kennedy vs. Nixon, Bush vs. Kerry or Obama vs. McCain or Romney.<\/p>\n The Texas Republican Party claims that its current slogan, \u201cWe are the storm,\u201d precisely the same slogan used by QAnon, comes from Psalm 29 in the Bible and is unrelated to the organization. Sure. And Steve Bannon just wants your money to build the wall, even though we were promised that Mexico was paying for it. Did you watch any of the Republican Convention? If so, you learned that Trump was a friend to women, black people and immigrants. And he saved us from Covid.<\/p>\n Is there any limit to what people will believe?<\/p>\n Racism is a powerful motivator. Fear of \u201cthe other\u201d pushes people to vote against their own interests. Feeling left behind, dispossessed, they are vulnerable to cults, con artists and conspiracies like QAnon.<\/p>\n Of course, conspiracy theories have been around for thousands of years. Like religion, much of the appeal is explaining the unexplainable to people while engendering a sense of belonging. I\u2019m still baffled by how society determines what is an acceptable, mainstream religion and what is a cult or a scam, but what United States Supreme Court Justice Potter Stewart said to describe his threshold test for obscenity in a 1964 case seems to say it all. \u201cI know it when I see it.\u201d<\/p>\n I would wager that 65% of the country or more would agree that they are seeing craziness when they look at QAnon. But what about the other 35%, the people, who of course, make up the Trump \u201cbase.\u201d<\/p>\n Do they truly believe that Hilary Clinton was operating a child pornography ring in a Washington, D.C. pizza parlor? Do they really believe that Trump was chosen by God to fight the pedophiles, cannibals and the other evil doers of the deep state? Apparently so. And our president, who has talked about how QAnon people are patriots. \u201cI\u2019ve heard these are people that love our country.\u201d<\/p>\n The New York Times reports<\/a><\/span> that Trump\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n \u201c\u2026when told by a reporter about the central premise of the QAnon theory \u2014 a belief that Mr. Trump is saving the world from a satanic cult made up of pedophiles and cannibals connected to Democratic Party figures, so-called deep-state actors and Hollywood celebrities \u2014 Mr. Trump did not question the validity of the movement or the truth of those claims.<\/em><\/p>\n Instead, he offered his help.<\/em><\/p>\n \u201cIs that supposed to be a bad thing or a good thing?\u201d the president said lightly, responding to a reporter who asked if he could support that theory. \u201cIf I can help save the world from problems, I am willing to do it. I\u2019m willing to put myself out there.\u201d\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n Will truth ever matter again? Not if people are so filled with racist-fueled hate that they need to find their own “facts” to make sense of a changing world.<\/p>\n I can\u2019t help but think of McCann Erickson\u2019s venerable motto, coined over a hundred years ago in 1912.\u00a0 The global agency\u2019s current website explains:<\/p>\n \u201cSince foundation in 1912 McCann Erickson has made a name for itself in more than 120 markets with its positioning \u201cTruth Well Told.\u201d When truth is well told it has the power to move people, brands and markets.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n I wish it were still so. What\u2019s moving people, brands and markets these days are \u201clies not so well told but it doesn\u2019t matter because we\u2019ll believe and anything or do anything that makes us feel better about our selfish selves.\u201d<\/p>\n We have a lot of work to do in this country, but you\u2019re just a marketing professional trying to make a living. What does this mean for you?<\/p>\n First, let\u2019s not forget that voters are also consumers. Your consumers. How do you feel about your relationships with nut jobs? You\u2019re okay with selling your sneakers to QAnon adherents? Hey, QAnon merch is hot! How about a special edition Supreme t-shirt or a pair of Nike Herschel Walker QSneaks?<\/p>\n I suppose if you don\u2019t cater to them, it\u2019s just fine to have the crazies buy your products. Though if the videos from Kenosha were to show the 17-year-old vigilante alleged murderer wearing Nike\u2019s, that might be a problem.<\/p>\n \u201cPurpose Marketing\u201d is still in vogue, but brands are limited in what they do to save the world. Ideally, they wouldn\u2019t be in this position in the first place, but the gaping chasm of void of national leadership has\u00a0 businesses and brands attempting to set social policy<\/a>.<\/span> With trust in government and other institutions eroding, aided and abetted by none other than our Anarchist-in-Chief, wannabe dictator, it\u2019s a smart play. If our institutions and elected officials won\u2019t stand behind people in need and continue to prioritize the need for \u201claw and order\u201d over the rights of innocent black people who are murdered on a regular basis at the hands of the police, where can people find hope?<\/p>\n \u201cJust Do It?\u201d How sad that Nike is more credible that our own government in pushing for racial equality.<\/p>\n Purpose marketing is all well and good, but the cynic in me feels that the \u201cpurpose\u201d part isn\u2019t nearly as important as the \u201cmarketing\u201d part. Still, I can\u2019t fault Nike or Starbucks for taking a stand on race issues just as I can\u2019t fault any brand for donating or getting behind any cause that will help change the world in a truly positive way.<\/p>\n But if American businesses truly want to be a cause for good, they will promote belonging. Not just for its consumers, but for its employees.<\/p>\n It\u2019s tough to do when we\u2019re all Zoom all the time. No hanging out around the coffee maker. No lunch or drinks after work. No sitting next to someone you don\u2019t\u2019 know very well and discovering how much you have in common. Where\u2019s the spontaneity?<\/p>\n And where\u2019s the inspiration? I talked to a friend and client of mine this week who is tasked with heading up marketing culture and education for a major global company. She has successfully organized a weekly talk featuring an engaging expert, sometimes from inside and sometimes from the outside, that draws more than 500 marketing people – an impressive figure –\u00a0 on average. I take her at her word when she says the speakers are inspiring. Yet the common complaint she hears from her colleagues is that, \u201cwe are not inspired enough.\u201d<\/p>\n She has taken the company from a place where events meant to inspire took place periodically to a regular, weekly occurrence.\u00a0 Still, they complain, and implicit in this must be that they aren\u2019t inspired because they don\u2019t feel like they totally belong when they\u2019re working in their pj\u2019s from the kitchen.<\/p>\n The pandemic has opened the eyes of businesses. Maybe everyone doesn’t have to be in the office. Maybe getting on a plane to travel to a meeting is a thing of the past. Why put on national sales meetings at great expense when we can get everyone on Zoom for nothing? Why do marketing research in person<\/span><\/a> when you can do it online?<\/p>\n As my friend is finding out, rallying the troops online is may not be the answer. People are hard wired to make real life, high touch connections. We want to see things unfold in reality and not just on screens. This is why people go to baseball games and concerts and movies. The crowd is always a character in the drama. Remove the human element and what do you have?<\/p>\n Despite the fact that Salesforce announced today that it will allow its employees to work from home until August 2021<\/a><\/span>, the first order of business should be getting people back into the office once it\u2019s safe. Perhaps not every day \u2013 there are myriad benefits to allowing people the flexibility of working from home \u2013 but at least once or twice a week. Rallying the troops from a distance works only to a point.<\/p>\n More important, despite the economic challenges and great progress on benefits, family leave, flexible work schedules and other initiatives, companies have to treat employees even better.<\/p>\n I admire much of what businesses like Nike do to promote social justice, though they are from perfect. Nike, for all its high-profile grandstanding, has serious issues with the double standard they apply to their male and female endorsers. Guess who gets the better deals and can avoid being dropped entirely or put up with a loss in endorsement fees when they get pregnant?<\/p>\n Even the most forward-looking companies, those getting good press for providing family leave, health benefits, financial support for education, etc. don\u2019t really provide an iota of support for their employees when the going gets tough. The minute sales drop or expenses increase, they\u2019ll through you under the bus to meet their quarterly numbers.<\/p>\n Until the \u201cswamp\u201d is truly drained and our country is united, as best it can be, by an inspirational figure, business needs to do more.<\/p>\n Compensation needs to improve, especially for those at the bottom of the income scale. Businesses will hire people as employees, not independent contractors. Jobs need to be more secure. People must be treated with dignity and appreciated for their work.<\/p>\n Getting fired other than \u201cfor cause\u201d was once rare in this country. Now it seems everyone gets fired, and most often, it\u2019s unrelated to performance. A Forbes article<\/a> <\/span>from 2019 claims that \u201cfor those over 50 and gainfully employed,\u00a0a new study<\/a><\/span>\u00a0says you have a 56% chance that you’ll be let go before you’re ready to retire, risking substantial income loss.\u201d Those aren\u2019t great odds, and the workplace is not any less perilous for younger people.<\/p>\n If QAnon isn\u2019t enough of a cautionary tale, the need to channel our human need to belong into more positive pursuits, consider the story of Kyle Rittenhouse, the previously mentioned white 17-year-old who took to the streets of Kenosha, Wisconsin in the wake of the Jacob Blake shooting, armed with a military-style rifle.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.therightbrainstudio.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/Kyle-Rittenhouse.jpg\")