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> I have a credit card with HSBC: you know, the bank with virtue-signalling multiculturalism in their ads. Was this opening sentence necessary? It is not germa

> I have a credit card with HSBC: you know, the bank with virtue-signalling multiculturalism in their ads. Was this opening sentence necessary? It is not germane at all to the rest of the article. Ironically, it is itself virtue-signalling (for some definition of virtue), just to a different audience.

bstsb 9mo ago
precisely this. it sort of put me off an otherwise excellent article
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throwaway902984 9mo ago
My first instinct was to close the article as I didn't want to read a Republican virtue signaling to his audience. I wonder if they were trying to sound Republican? The article itself is a nice, well interesting, dive into the topic; kinda unfortunate.
- dwedge 9mo ago
  > I didn't want to read a Republican virtue signaling to his audience. I wonder if they were trying to sound Republican? It would be very surprising behaviour for a British guy living in the UK
- 1over137 9mo ago
  "Republican"?! US defaultism strikes again. He's in the UK, and he states his pronouns here https://danq.me/about/ https://danq.me/about/ so doesn't sound very "Republican" to me.
  - cosmicgadget 9mo ago
    On the other hand, Twitter is full of Republicans who are not from the US.
  - extraduder_ire 9mo ago
    I didn't find anything from a short keyword search and a read through some of his other blogposts, but I would not be surprised if he were a republican in the "prefers a republic as a form of government" sense. (I'm one, and am very much not a fan of the US political party by that name) Surprisingly neutral on topics regarding monarchy/monarchs, in favour of the AV referendum to get rid of plurality voting, and very annoyed at the electoral system for unilaterally changing his name on the voter rolls. (His surname is Q)
- 01HNNWZ0MV43FF 9mo ago
  I've seen this sentiment on the left. I think the author just phrased it a little oddly. Sometimes called "pink capitalism" or "rainbow capitalism", where a company will show the rainbow pride flag for Pride Month, but not put any more substantial effort towards diversity, plurality, LGBTQ rights, etc. I expect nothing from companies, and it's nice to see that virtue signal. If they're signalling, it means they think we haven't been exterminated yet. But I don't expect good works from anything for-profit. It's just business. Edit: The author using the phrase "surveillance capitalism" is generally a left wing thing. I don't hear right-wingers rallying against capitalism (let's not even get into the weeds of defining "capitalism" the word) even when they happen to oppose surveillance
  - direwolf20 9mo ago
    I don't think anyone on the left would phrase it the way TFA did. It's very right–coded.
- apublicfrog 9mo ago
  Funny, the tone sounded UK/Australian to me. Just be aware, beyond a surface level awareness there are very few people who know what a specific ideology in your country sounds like, or care enough to learn.
- direwolf20 9mo ago
  I think this kind of virtue signalling has become known as "vice signalling". Putting diverse races in an ad, while not doing anything else about diversity, is virtue signalling. Complaining there are other races in the ad is vice signalling.
enlightens 9mo ago
I took the use of "virtue signalling" to be an intentional jab at HSBC given everything https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HSBC#Controversies https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HSBC#Controversies
- Analemma_ 9mo ago
  If that's true it only makes the opening sentence worse: of all the things you could have accused HSBC of in your opener (laundering money for dictators and violent drug cartels, manipulating markets to fleece people out of billions, and on and on), you decided their most noteworthy sin was multicultural ads?
rjsw 9mo ago
People used to bank with Barclays to register their support for Apartheid in South Africa.
arduanika 9mo ago
Not only a distraction, but also fails to distinguish HSBC from pretty much any other bank, so the "the" comes off as crankish and aggrieved.
swiftcoder 9mo ago
> just to a different audience And apparently not targeted all that well, since half the comments here think it is a right-wing (anti-multiculturalism) sentiment, and the other half a left-wing (anti-corporate-reputation-laundering) sentiment.
CodesInChaos 9mo ago
It doesn't even link to an ad, it links to a weird parody attempt of the ad on the same site as the article. Which makes little sense for people unfamiliar with the original ad it parodies.
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bstsb 9mo ago

precisely this. it sort of put me off an otherwise excellent article

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throwaway902984 9mo ago

My first instinct was to close the article as I didn't want to read a Republican virtue signaling to his audience. I wonder if they were trying to sound Republican? The article itself is a nice, well interesting, dive into the topic; kinda unfortunate.

dwedge 9mo ago
> I didn't want to read a Republican virtue signaling to his audience. I wonder if they were trying to sound Republican? It would be very surprising behaviour for a British guy living in the UK
1over137 9mo ago
"Republican"?! US defaultism strikes again. He's in the UK, and he states his pronouns here https://danq.me/about/ https://danq.me/about/ so doesn't sound very "Republican" to me.
- cosmicgadget 9mo ago
  On the other hand, Twitter is full of Republicans who are not from the US.
- extraduder_ire 9mo ago
  I didn't find anything from a short keyword search and a read through some of his other blogposts, but I would not be surprised if he were a republican in the "prefers a republic as a form of government" sense. (I'm one, and am very much not a fan of the US political party by that name) Surprisingly neutral on topics regarding monarchy/monarchs, in favour of the AV referendum to get rid of plurality voting, and very annoyed at the electoral system for unilaterally changing his name on the voter rolls. (His surname is Q)
01HNNWZ0MV43FF 9mo ago
I've seen this sentiment on the left. I think the author just phrased it a little oddly. Sometimes called "pink capitalism" or "rainbow capitalism", where a company will show the rainbow pride flag for Pride Month, but not put any more substantial effort towards diversity, plurality, LGBTQ rights, etc. I expect nothing from companies, and it's nice to see that virtue signal. If they're signalling, it means they think we haven't been exterminated yet. But I don't expect good works from anything for-profit. It's just business. Edit: The author using the phrase "surveillance capitalism" is generally a left wing thing. I don't hear right-wingers rallying against capitalism (let's not even get into the weeds of defining "capitalism" the word) even when they happen to oppose surveillance
- direwolf20 9mo ago
  I don't think anyone on the left would phrase it the way TFA did. It's very right–coded.
apublicfrog 9mo ago
Funny, the tone sounded UK/Australian to me. Just be aware, beyond a surface level awareness there are very few people who know what a specific ideology in your country sounds like, or care enough to learn.
direwolf20 9mo ago
I think this kind of virtue signalling has become known as "vice signalling". Putting diverse races in an ad, while not doing anything else about diversity, is virtue signalling. Complaining there are other races in the ad is vice signalling.

enlightens 9mo ago

I took the use of "virtue signalling" to be an intentional jab at HSBC given everything https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HSBC#Controversies https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HSBC#Controversies

Analemma_ 9mo ago
If that's true it only makes the opening sentence worse: of all the things you could have accused HSBC of in your opener (laundering money for dictators and violent drug cartels, manipulating markets to fleece people out of billions, and on and on), you decided their most noteworthy sin was multicultural ads?

rjsw 9mo ago

People used to bank with Barclays to register their support for Apartheid in South Africa.

arduanika 9mo ago

Not only a distraction, but also fails to distinguish HSBC from pretty much any other bank, so the "the" comes off as crankish and aggrieved.

swiftcoder 9mo ago

> just to a different audience And apparently not targeted all that well, since half the comments here think it is a right-wing (anti-multiculturalism) sentiment, and the other half a left-wing (anti-corporate-reputation-laundering) sentiment.

CodesInChaos 9mo ago

It doesn't even link to an ad, it links to a weird parody attempt of the ad on the same site as the article. Which makes little sense for people unfamiliar with the original ad it parodies.

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