How companies are cashing in on the gay marriage ruling

When the Supreme Court ruled that marriage was a constitutional right on Friday morning — legalizing marriage for gay couples in all 50 states — it was immediately obvious that everybody would be talking about pretty much nothing else for the rest of the day. Celebrating, complaining, analyzing... everybody had something to say about the ruling.

But what to do if you happened to be the social media manager for a company that makes soda or paper towels or whatever? You couldn't miss a chance to promote your product during this hard-won moment of cultural relevancy, right?

Behold — a non-comprehensive collection of #brands hastily celebrating #LoveWins:

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Your own skepticism about these kinds of social media posts may vary. On the one hand, public support and advocacy isn't meaningless; when a cultural movement achieves enough open support, it can eventually lead to real, recognizable results. But there's also something a little unseemly about the self-congratulatory eagerness as these brands have jumped to associate themselves with an extremely popular social movement — and, of course, managed to shoehorn in pictures of their products while doing it.

Corporations, remember: The next time something big and important and deeply meaningful to a bunch of people happens, you don't need to rush out a Photoshopped copy of your logo and slap on a hashtag. You can just, you know, say nothing.