I never liked when brands talked about their “purpose”. As an adman who worked on Taco Bell, Pepsi, Call of Duty, I have a number of reasons for feeling this way.
For one thing, most brands have a “purpose” that’s hardly, shall we say, noble: like making sure your armpits don’t stink. Or filling your belly with a quick, but completely unhealthy snack. Or stealing hours of your attention morbidly shooting strangers on some digital battlefield somewhere. Or, perhaps, delighting your mouth with some fizzy, sweet chemical water that could take the rust off the rims of your car.
You get the point.
Most brands exist to fill some need or want. That’s it. That’s why they exist. Oftentimes fulfilling those desires has no other redeeming value. Companies simply make money in exchange for providing us with a service or product. And there’s nothing wrong with that.
In any case, to try to give “purpose” to a chocolate bar or stick of antiperspirant is silly and, frankly, a bit embarrassing. But I’ve sat in many a meeting where we discussed, for instance, a toilet paper brands’ “mission”. (To keep tushies clean? Nope, to ensure trans rights and stop global deforestation - of course! )
As a Christian of the conservative, Bible-believing variety (recent surveys indicate there’s exactly one in the entire ad world and I have it on good authority he was canceled), I also loathed when brands talked “purpose” because I knew that the “purpose” would always be in support of some fringe leftwing cause that usually had nothing to do with the brand. Which means it’s manufactured and inauthentic.
Can’t we just sell some Chalupas? I would think to myself in these missional, navel-gazing meetings.
Occasionally, I would say as much. And most of the time my clients would quietly nod in agreement if I dared to speak my heresy aloud. After all, I suspect the “purpose” game is one most clients feel they must play. “It’s what Gen Z wants!” clients are told. And besides, the HR DEI training module they just completed advises them that their cat food company’s real job is not to feed Felix, but to end systemic racism.
Yet, here I am, for the very first time working on what is the most purpose-filled brand of my career: XX-XY Athletics, the only athletic brand that stands up for women’s sports.
So, what gives, Mr. I-hate-purpose-brands?
Purpose chose me is the short answer. I didn’t go looking for it (obviously).
You see, the world went mad almost exactly 4 years ago. Systemic racism (DEI), ironically, became corporate policy. After Roe v Wade was overturned, companies declared, proudly, they would fly their employees to have abortions - on the corporate dime! (Yay!) Conversely, your bodily autonomy wouldn’t be respected if your corporation wanted to inject you with an experimental vaccine. People I worked with for years suddenly felt the need to declare their gender pronouns in their email footers, as if anyone was confused about which sex they were. Family-friendly Disney had an employee declare the company had a “not-so-secret-gay-agenda”, apparently to “queer” content meant for kids.
These are but a few examples of the insanity that seized corporate America.
It was all-woke “purpose”, all the time. And there were no brakes on this particular crazy train. I, of course, was ejected from said social-justice locomotive. Looking back, one way or another, it had to happen. Because as a Christian, I couldn’t promote these ideas and still call myself, well, a Christian. It wasn’t fun saying goodbye to a career. But I can now see, there was, for lack of a better word, a purpose in all of it.
Athletic Brands Jump the Woke Shark and Forsake Women
Perhaps the most egregious example of this woke corporate insanity, is the current hypocrisy on display by famous athletic brands whose “purpose” is ostensibly to help blaze trails for women in sports. Yet today, these household brand names are now either unable to define what a woman is or are afraid to do so. Consequently, girls’ and women’s spaces are in the process of being erased - not just from sports, but from society.
Gender ideology is reshaping society, especially our language, in attempt to bend reality to its delusions. Women are now called “people who bleed”, “chest-feeders” and “birthing people” - dehumanized to make men, who identify as women, feel “included”. This is an absolute assault on girls and a total mockery of womanhood. (Not to mention a particularly egregious and perverse form of misogyny.)
But it’s not just our language that’s being assaulted, women’s spaces (like sports) are too. And if you think men invading women’s sports and stealing opportunity from girls and women is rare, here’s a running tabulation on just how common it’s becoming:
Also, listen to the stories of former NCAA swimmers, Paula Scanlan and Riley Gaines, which are beyond infuriating (Watch below).
And yet these famous athletic brands’ “purpose” has not compelled them to utter a word in girl’s and women’s defense. Perhaps these corporations’ so-called “purpose” never really mattered. Or perhaps they simply don’t possess the courage to stick to their original mission now that it’s opposed by the DEI cult, corporate ESG-incentives or that vicious minority of voices who believe this ideological madness is not up for discussion.
However, I believe the best explanation is most brands don’t really believe in their so-called “purpose” because it’s been hijacked by inauthentic wokeness.
Brands have traded their mission for so-called “progressive” platitudes that are often directly opposed to what they actually do (“environmental” oil companies or feminine hygiene brands that tell you men menstruate, for instance). It’s purpose that’s fabricated and coerced. Purpose built on lies. Therefore, most brands have a mission that’s no longer organic, but force-fitted. And it doesn’t work - not for consumers or the company. (The obvious example is Dylan Mulvaney and Bud Light, but there’s too many to list at this point).
This lack of authenticity from brands has created a vacuum. And nature abhors a vacuum - as do markets.
In A Marketplace Defined By Lies, Truth Becomes a Rare Commodity.
Into that vacuum steps XX-XY Athletics, led by my friend, Jennifer Sey, a national champion gymnast, inveterate truth-teller, and former Brand President of Levi’s.
At its core, XX-XY Athletics was conceived to be a reflection of Jennifer. It is simply the embodiment of everything she has stood for consistently throughout her life - her, shall we say, purpose. (Watch her story above).
I can’t think of a single person in the world more suited and qualified to run XX-XY Athletics. Her purpose - and the brand’s - are one and the same. And it’s not manufactured, it’s 100% authentic. The Jennifer Sey you see in front of the camera is the same one you see behind it - I can attest to that. There will be no fake platitudes put forward that she doesn’t mean. No promises made by XX-XY Athletics she doesn’t intend to deliver on.
We make no bones about the fact, for instance, that XX-XY Athletics is out to provide a platform for female athletes and truth-tellers - and we want to do that by creating a profitable company (no, we don’t apologize for that) that makes excellent products.
Today, this kind of authenticity in corporate America is radical, but we’re betting there’s a market for radical truthfulness.
Ultimately, XX-XY Athletics’ purpose is Jennifer’s life purpose: to tell uncomfortable truths and advocate for athletes and girls and women. And right now, that truth we must say (Sey) is one no other athletic brand is willing to: that women are real and, yes, they’re different from men and, consequently, their sports and their spaces deserve protection.
I know the power brands have to change the cultural conversation, as does Jennifer. We both know the immense power of brand messaging (“If You Let Me Play” by Nike, for example which helped make women’s sports a reality).
Up until now, very few female athletes have had the courage to speak up. Part of the problem, is these brave female athletes have no air cover. How frightening must that feel? They get no support from governing bodies like the NCAA. If they make a peep, they get mobbed. They’re told they’re “transphobic”. That their legitimate concerns are selfish. The gaslighting, the threats, the hate directed against the few courageous women who risk speaking up is shameful and outrageous.
And again, not a single athletic brand has had the courage to stand up for the very women they claim to care about - until now.
Our hope is that by speaking out and standing up, we will embolden more people to do so. We believe this is a fight we can - and must - win.
And maybe that’s why I know, at least for now, I’ve been chosen to help this brand succeed. Precisely because I wouldn’t have chosen it.
Remember, I never wanted to be a part of a “purpose” brand. I got into advertising to create ideas that entertain people. That’s all advertising ever was to me, a gig - a very fun one at that. The only “purpose” was to earn a living for my family doing something that employed the talents God gave me.
And yet, here I am. Send me.
As a dad of two daughters who play sports, at this moment, I can’t imagine not working for XX-XY Athletics - my girls’ futures are more important than my reputation, safety or whatever else standing up for them might cost me.
This kind of brand purpose is rare. It’s the kind that just fits - because it’s based in truth.
And that’s the kind of purpose I can wholeheartedly get behind. I hope you will too.
You can check out XX-XY Athletics here: thetruthfits.com.