Cannes Ad Fest 2019: Authenticity connects

One of the big themes to have emerged from the Cannes Lions so far is the need for brands to be authentic in communication. In an attempt towards purpose-led authentic advertising, brands are resorting to pink washing.

Pink washing is the pseudo-progressiveness that brands adopt to connect with millennials. These campaigns, depicting the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer community, are self-serving and do nothing to change the lives of the people shown in the advertising.

First coined by the US-based activist organisation Breast Cancer Action — to identify firms that claimed to be supporting women suffering from the disease while actually