Melbourne Cup: why brands are quietly distancing themselves from the ‘race that stops the nation’

Prof Lisa Farrell, an economics and marketing expert at RMIT University, says companies are playing it politically safe when it comes to the Melbourne Cup. Photograph: Vince Caligiuri/Getty Images

For nearly four decades, Myer partnered with the Melbourne Cup to sponsor Fashions on the Field. But this year, the department store pulled the pin. It’s one of many brands and businesses over the years that have changed how they view and celebrate the “race that stops the nation”.

Many have done so quietly – or, like Myer, have distanced themselves without taking a political stance on the social and animal harms associated with the race.