Many American and international brands have kicked off Pride Month promotions despite a consumer backlash against firms like Target and Anheuser-Busch for pushing transgenderism.
Mega brands like Citi, Bank of America, Cisco, HP, and Pfizer have all changed their social media icons to pride-themed logos. Promotions include new LGBTQ-themed product ranges, messaging and donations to like-minded causes. However, there are certain regions of the world where the brands have kept silent as commentators have decried the Pride movement as a dangerous slide downwards for Western civilization.
Adidas, which has long celebrated Pride Month, is offering its “Love Unites” collection featuring Pride-themes footwear, apparel, and accessories. “With bold, vibrant, and uplifting designs, Adidas Pride wear shows that love has no boundaries,” the company said. Adidas actively supports an organization called “Athlete Ally” that advocates for including LGBTQ in sports.
On May 24, Apple released a new sport band for Apple Watch in support of the LGBTQ community, featuring every color of the rainbow. The “Pride Edition” sport band’s vibrant colors “symbolize the beauty and diversity of the LGBTQ+ community,” the company says on the sales page. Apple also supports a number of LGBTQ+ organizations like GLSEN, PFLAG, and Equality Federation Institute.
Disney is offering rainbow-color-themed clothing, backpacks, star wars figures, toys, mugs, slippers, and more as part of its Pride collection. “The Walt Disney Company proudly works with nonprofits throughout the year to support the LGBTQIA+ community globally,” per the company.
LEGO is selling an “Everyone Is Awesome” set in rainbow colors designed by an LGBTQ-identifying individual. “This sends a signal to everyone that this is what we stand for at The LEGO Group and that we want to embrace all of you, because creativity is for everyone,” Matthew Ashton, vice president of design at the LEGO Group, and designer of the Everyone Is Awesome model, said in a statement.
Clothing brand Levi’s collection for June includes colorful jackets, hats, socks, and more. Popular shoe brand Teva is offering LGBTQ-themed footwear and accessories. Other footwear companies offering similar pride collections include Vans, Uggs, and Toms.
Bombas is offering Pride flag-inspired socks and underwear among other things. “Every purchase from this collection = an essential clothing donation to organizations supporting people facing homelessness,” the company states.
Cosmetics brand The Body Shop is donating $1 from its “Out for Love” highlighter to the Equality Federation, which pushes pro-LGBTQ policies in America. “Drag & 2SLGBTQ+ youth are under attack. Together we need to stand up and speak out against hate and intolerance,” according to the company.
Colorado-based snack bar manufacturer Bobo’s is offering Pride-themed bars. The company is giving 100 percent of profits made from this product to LGBTQ organization PFLAG. The firm is also using the Pride Month to showcase work from various LGBTQ artists.
Fabric and craft retailer JOANN is offering sunglasses, bracelets, hair claws, and more as part of their Pride “One Together” collection. JOANN has a partnership with GLSEN pro-LGBTQ organization that promotes such ideologies in schools.
Auto-racing brand NASCAR supported pride month in a June 1 tweet, insisting that “Pride is Universal.” Another tweet said, “We celebrate the LGBTQ+ community during #PrideMonth and beyond.”
Other major sporting brands promoting Pride Month include Major League Baseball (MLB), Major League Soccer (MLS), and the National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL).
On Thursday, MLB changed its Facebook profile picture to a Pride logo. However, it soon changed course and reverted back to the original logo after receiving severe criticism for it.
While major firms are pushing a pro-LGBT narrative in the United States and other Western countries during June, conservatives are calling out such companies for maintaining silence about Pride Month celebrations in the Middle East.
Companies like Mercedes-Benz, Cisco, Bethesda, Lenovo, and BMW are showing off LGBTQ-themed logos on Twitter as part of celebrating Pride Month. However, their Middle Eastern Twitter accounts feature normal logos without any such color themes.
“Breaking: Big corporations are running out of ink in their Middle East pages. What could possibly be the reason?” said entrepreneur Dr. Eli David said in a June 3 tweet.
Some of the places other than the Middle East where companies have promoted LGBT ideologies also faced a massive backlash. For instance, in India, Starbucks released an ad in May promoting transgenderism. It features a man named Arpit who transitioned into a female with the name Arpita. The ad triggered boycott calls in India while also garnering criticism from the United States.
“Forty years ago, every nation on the planet would have benefited from copying our culture. Today, we have one of the most warped, degenerate cultures on the planet. If you want a healthy, happy culture, the last thing you should do is copy what’s going on in America right now,” author John Hawkins said in a May 17 tweet.
The corporate promotion of LGBTQ ideology is facing pushback from customers, with some companies removing their pride offerings.
For instance, Target rolled out its Pride collection from some of its stores at the beginning of the month. The collection offered over 2,000 products, including clothing, books, home furnishings, and calendars, among others. Some of the items were targeted at children. After facing negative reactions online, Target removed the controversial items from stores located in predominantly conservative areas.
The boycott calls have also affected market capitalizations of such companies. Between May 1 and June 2, Target’s market capitalization fell from $72.52 billion to $61.49 billion. Between April 3 and June 2, Anheuser-Busch’s market cap declined from $132.06 billion to $108.96 billion. Anheuser-Busch had attracted the wrath of customers after its Bud Light brand used a transgender influencer in a promotional campaign.
Such a strong backlash, and its economic aftereffects have been unique to this year, and it remains to be seen how many companies will keep up the promotions.
“If you want to understand the power of the Target Boycott you MUST see what Target is promoting for yourself. This has nothing to do with a rainbow “PRIDE” display. This has everything to do with the aggressive and explicit sexualization of children,” said journalist and commentator Benny Johnson in a tweet on May 28.
“Some of the woke companies that turned their logo into pride flags last June haven’t done it yet this time around. They’ve seen the power of conservative boycotts, and they are running scared. We are so back!” Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-Colo.) said in a June 2 tweet.