"Beyond tweets and logos: why the Supreme Court decision on gay rights was a business victory"

Social media was awash in rainbows following the Supreme Court’s historic ruling last week to legalize same-sex marriage across the US. Big name brands like Target, Kellogg’s and Ben & Jerry’s [part of Unilever] tweeted their support for the decision. Some companies, like AT&T, Coca-Cola and American Airlines, also created rainbow versions of their logos.

...[Some] companies, including Facebook, were called out by activists for being hypocritical. At the same time, consumers increasingly want to see companies take a stance on social issues, raising the question of how companies should be responding to the same-sex marriage decision.

...Veb Anand, executive director of strategy at the New York office of consultancy Brand Union...[said] “In this case, neutral is as bad as negative, particularly for highly visible consumer-facing companies”... 

However, some companies aren’t under as much pressure to express a view. Hundreds of big corporations, namely those in the engineering, chemical, infrastructure and energy fields, have little to no interaction with consumers, so keeping mum on social issues of the day generally goes unnoticed.

[also refers to support for gay marriage by Apple, Walmart, Coca-Cola]