Beyoncé's Shirt Sparks Backlash—Here's The Lesson For Marketers

Forbes

5 hours ago

LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA - FEBRUARY 02: Beyoncé accepts the Best Country Album award for "COWBOY ... More CARTER" onstage during the 67th Annual GRAMMY Awards at Crypto.com Arena on February 02, 2025 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo byfor The Recording Academy)
On Juneteenth, Beyoncé performed during night one of her stint in Paris for her Cowboy Carter tour. Sometime during the show, she wore a shirt that said 'Buffalo Soldiers' with an image that depicted the all Black regiment in the U.S. military in the time period after the Civil War.
One her website, Beyoncé shows images of the shirt, along with an excerpt (that looks to be the back of the shirt) from the book The Buffalo Soldiers: A Narrative of the Black Cavalry in the West that gives a brief overview of who the Buffalo Soldiers were, and what this often forgotten group achieved. This is where much of the controversy comes in.
UNSPECIFIED - :: Segregated company of United States soldiers (Buffalo Soldiers) in 1898 during the ... More Spanish-American war. (Photo by Universal)
Toward the end of the excerpts is a paragraph explaining who the Buffalo Soldiers fought against: 'The antagonists were the enemies of peace, order and settlement: warring Indians, bandits, cattle thieves, murderous gunmen, bootleggers, tresspassers, and Mexican revolutionaries.'
The controversy about Beyoncé's Buffalo Soldier Shirt
Many critics of the shirt feel like Beyoncé is celebrating genocide of American Indians. They took particular issue that groups like American Indians and Mexican revolutionaries were described as antagonists and enemies of peace.
I found several Reditt threads on this topic, each with hundreds of comments. One person wrote, 'As an Indigenous person, it's disheartening to see Beyoncé wearing a Buffalo Soldier shirt. These soldiers played a direct role in the forced removal, violence, and suppression of Native peoples. I respect her impact, but this choice hurts a lot."
Another person wrote, 'Agents of enforced genocide, but make it inclusive.'
Another commentor on TikTok shared, 'It's understandable why this image is triggering for some, given the Buffalo Soldiers' complex history with Native American communities. A reminder that progress for one group sometimes came at a cost to another.'
Even though a number of people are outraged about what they feel Beyoncé is endorsing, others are defending it. Their point of view is that the history of the Buffalo Soldiers is nuanced and complex, and that Beyoncé is shedding light on the country's troubled and multi-layered past.
One person commented on TikTok, "It's almost like she said, "whole lotta red in that white and blue,' referring to the lyrics of her hit song YaYa, which is featured on her Cowboy Carter album and current tour.
Another person shared their thoughts on a different Reddit thread, 'My take is probably a basic take, but is that the history of this country is ugly no matter how we show it. We get mad when we don't show the ugliness of this country, but we get mad when we do show the ugliness of this country in a way that not spoon fed, or presented to us in a conventional way. If nuance can exist in all matter of formats then it should exist when it comes to this.'
Others took the opportunity to invite others to get more educated about the history of the Buffalo Soldiers, including directing people to visit the Buffalo Soldier National Museum in Houston.
Key takeaway for marketers
One of the things Beyoncé is known for are the details, intentionality, and cultural intelligence associated with many of the decisions she makes with regard to her music, shows, and art. Even though many people who are troubled by her wearing the shirt, they likely won't get the context they desire from her explaining why she did it.
Even though there are many lessons marketers can learn from Beyoncé that has made her the superstar, artist, and billionaire she is today, my recommendation is to not follow Beyoncé's lead with this shirt.
That's especially important, because most brands can't get away with the things Beyoncé does.
First of all, the explanation on the back of the shirt caused harm to people. The lack of context with the point she was making left too many people to determine meaning on their own. And their meaning the meaning they derived came from harmful narratives.
Anytime you are communicating about something that has the potential to cause harm, it is important to provide sufficient context so people on the receiving end of your message clearly understand your meaning and intent.
The second takeaway from marketers is that cultural intelligence is a must. While I don't personally believe Beyoncé wore the Buffalo Soldiers shirt without an understanding of the complex history – with the corresponding text, many people feel her wearing the shirt was a culturally inappropriate thing to do.
Cultural intelligence is a requirement for marketers. Consumers are growing less tolerant of brands apologizing for making culturally inappropriate mistakes and chalking it up to ignorance about the negative impact it has on people.
Incorporating culturally relevant messages and imagery into your marketing is a smart idea. However, doing so without cultural intelligence and context can cause more harm than good.
An additional observation for marketers is to acknowledge is that consumer acceptance of language and narratives changes and evolves over time. The book that the controversial excerpt on Beyoncé's shirt came from, was first published in the 1960's. How we think about and talk about historical events, and people from marginalized communities today is not the same as it was during that time period.
Marketers have a duty to stay up to date on those changes as part of building cultural competence.
One last practice I recommend you consider in relation to all of this is taking the time to anticipate what types of objections and negative responses might come from something you are producing.
One of the commenters on the sea of social media posts on this topic asked where Beyoncé's PR team was to advise her that wearing the shirt was a bad idea.
Even when you are operating with context, communicating with the people you serve, and engaging in cultural intelligence, it is still important to ask important questions about (or even do testing where possible) to gauge in advance how different people from various identities will respond to work you produce.
Doing this will give you the insights you need to make any changes you need beforehand, and minimize the likelihood of you being surprised by how people respond to your marketing.