A Virgin Train decorated in rainbow colors for Pride season in the UK (Photo: Virgin)
The social media team with Virgin Trains East Coast in the UK have responded to all the negative comments they’ve received about the company’s embrace of Pride Month.
June is Pride Month in the US, but the season is increasingly being celebrated around the world.
Increasingly, corporates are using the month to demonstrate their support for LGBTI causes. The likes of American Airlines, United Airlines and Dow Chemical have all turned their logos on social media rainbow colored.
Predictably, such actions prompt a handful of negative comments from some social media followers – which is where the dedicated corporate can stand out from the crowd. Step forward Virgin Trains East Coast.
Virgin, headed by Richard Branson, operates on two of the UK’s biggest train lines in the country (East Coast and West Coast).
Virgin Trains East Coast turned its logo rainbow colored on Facebook last week.
‘To celebrate #PrideMonth, we’ve changed our Social Media logos to show our support. We’re sponsoring York Pride on 9th June and recently launched our #Trainbow livery. We believe everyone should be able to love who they want, and be who they truly are.’
‘Decent human beings’
The announcement promoted hundreds of comments. Some were negative, but whoever was in charge of their social media was having none of it.
Virgin Trains East Coast recently lost its franchise agreement with the UK government. The line will be renationalized later this month. Perhaps losing its franchise has emboldened some of its social media team!
‘Well I suppose when you’re just about to have your franchise taken away from you, what better way to react than with a pointless publicity stunt to show how hip and modern you are,’ asked Rory Hand on Facebook.
‘Yes, supporting the rights of people in the LGBTQ+ community is just a publicity stunt, and not because we’re decent human beings Rory with a large and diverse workforce,’ replied Virgin social media operative ‘KM’.
‘I should have thought you ought to be concentrating on running your train service,’ said David Hodkinson.
‘We can support basic human rights for all while running our train service David. It’s called multi-tasking. ^KM’ replied Virgin.
‘Whoever is responding to these comments needs to be made CEO immediately’
The overwhelming response to the rainbow logo was positive.
‘Whoever is responding to these comments needs to be made CEO immediately. Love that it’s an actual human response and not a faceless pre thought out copy and paste reply. All the love ❤🌈’ said Louise Avery.
‘Brilliant Virgin Trains. I’m not gay but a lot of friends are and this is an amazing idea. All the haters on here should be ashamed of themselves. It’s s because of people like them there are so many problems in the world,’ said Julie Williams.
Virgin Trains East Coast is supporting York Pride, England, this Saturday. Virgin Trains has also added rainbows to some of its Pendolinos, as part of its #Trainbow and #RideWithPride campaigns. Look out for them across the network this summer.
Great seeing @VirginTrains new #Trainbow Pride inspired livery on their East Coast route. Fantastic visibility for their support of LGBT+ employees, customers and diverse communities. 🏳️🌈🚆#Pride2018 #LoveIsLove pic.twitter.com/ihT0wwfYjM
— Thomas Anderson (@ThomasIAnderson) June 4, 2018
Virgin Trains East Coast operated the East Coast line in conjunction with Stagecoach. However, after reporting huge losses, the companies had their franchise agreement with the UK government terminated three years early. Virgin Trains West Coast operations remain unaffected.
See also
American Airlines gives brilliant response to Twitter critic of rainbow logo
