How do you take a neutral stance on something?

Abstract Against a backdrop of shifting socio-political and ecological movements, this study explores the complex dynamics of corporate activism in the UK, with a specific post-Brexit focus. Using both multimodal discourse analysis and corpus linguistics methods, we posit that 1) corporate activism is indeed nuanced and dependent on the context in which it evolves, and 2) UK businesses tend to approach corporate activism as an extension of their external communication efforts, tending to support safe, widely accepted causes that align with their image, rather than taking bold or disruptive stances. These findings prompt reflection on the very definition of corporate activism: does the selective endorsement of widely accepted causes, largely aligned with branding and reputation management strategies, amount to meaningful activism, or does it instead reveal a form of performative engagement that falls short of enacting or encouraging substantive social change.