Apple published a corporate video yesterday that seems to be a nod to its employees who had taken part in the San Francisco Pride Parade this year, Buzzfeed reported. The video, which was also shared by Apple Inc Chief Executive Officer Tim Cook via Twitter, showed thousands of the company's employees taking part at the famed LGBT parade alongside their families.
The video, which is made available on YouTube, also came with the following message that read, "On June 29, thousands of Apple employees and their families marched in the San Francisco Pride Parade. They came from around the world - from cities as far as Munich, Paris, and Hong Kong - to celebrate Apple's unwavering commitment to equality and diversity. Because we believe that inclusion inspires innovation."
It is to note that the parade had taken place just two days after a CNBC host accidentally outed Cook as gay. On the other hand, Cook's presence and support of his employees and their families clearly sends a message that he was not deterred about CNBC co-anchor Simon Hobbs' accidental revelation of his sexual orientation. On the other hand, Techradar said Cook has never been shy about being a corporate activist, and has long been championing LGBT rights as a human rights issue. The tech blog also said that aside from their inclusion to LGBT activities, Apple has been kinder than most corporations about the benefits and healthcare to its employees, and has an internal policy that bans discrimination against gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender employees.
Although Apple has been mostly quiet about cultural issues as a corporation, the video might have been the company's way on showing how it views LGBT issues as an entity.
In a university speech, Cook was quoted as saying, "(Apple) deeply believed in advancing humanity through its products and through the equality of all its employees."
If anti-gay groups that target megacorporations like Apple are concerned on how Cook is ushering Steve Jobs' pet company, a former Apple employee gave his two cents on why he thinks that the late innovator approves Cook as his successor.
Daisuke Wakabayashi at The Wall Street Journal wrote, "Steve was a wartime CEO, while Tim is a peacetime CEO... The only thing that Steve cared about was creating great products. The company, the employees were only there to facilitate that goal. Tim is much more worried about everything at the company."
