After backlash, expect less Pride merch
Target scaling back but some brands say they’re not adjusting their plans bathroom remodeling projects1
Love-themed Mickey Mouse backpacks. Pronoun pins. “Not a Phase” hoodies. “So gay for each other” greeting cards. Every year, national brands cozy up to LGBTQ+ Americans with colorful merchandise for Pride Month.
But this June, those displays may not be as loud and proud.
“Especially during Pride season, most companies like ours are pretty busy working on Pride projects. I can tell you for myself, I have not been, and I think it’s across the board,” said Matt Skallerud, president of Pink Media, which helps brands reach the LGBTQ+ demographic.
Mainstream brands used to brush off anti-LGBTQ+ sentiment. That changed last year when conservatives organized boycotts online that slashed sales.
National retail chain Target moved its Pride displays from the entrances to the back of stores after conservative activists confronted employees and vandalized displays. This year, Target is scaling back its Pride collection and won’t carry the collection in all stores.
Bud Light, owned by beer giant Anheuser-Busch, is still struggling after conservative blowback in 2023 over a social media campaign with transgender influencer Dylan Mulvaney.
“The goal is to make ‘pride’ toxic for brands,” conservative commentator Matt Walsh wrote at that time on X.
The strategy worked. Activists rallied supporters using hashtags and slogans like “go woke go broke” and held boycotts and other actions they called “Bud Lighting.”
Not only did sales suffer from the right, some in the LGBTQ+ community turned away from Target and Bud Light too, for bowing to conservative pressure.
Now brands are navigating the volatile political climate more gingerly. Expect fewer rainbow logos, Skallerud said.
“Nobody in the media, marketing and advertising world wants to admit how heavy and hard this has been,” he said. “Ever since Target and Bud Light had their fiascos last year, a tremendous number of brands have decided it would be much better to sit on the sidelines and let this sort itself out.”
The economics of Pride
Observed every year in June, Pride Month commemorates the 1969 riots following a police raid of the Stonewall Inn in New York. Over time, the community’s activism helped turn corporations that were indifferent or hostile into powerful allies in the fight for gay rights.
There’s a business argument for that: The LGBTQ+ community is a huge customer base, representing trillions in potential sales, according to Anders Jacobsen, co-founder of investment adviser LGBT Capital. And LGBTQ+ identification in the U.S. continues to grow, with 7.6% of U.S. adults now identifying as a sexual orientation other than heterosexual, up from 5.6% four years ago. The proportion of younger people who identify as LGBTQ+ is even higher: more than 1 in 5 Gen Z adults.
Research also suggests that Americans are more likely to patronize brands that support the LGBTQ+ community. A 2023 GLAAD/Ipsos poll found that Americans were nearly twice as likely to say they would support companies facing criticism for supporting LGBTQ+ people rather than their critics.
Two out of 3 Americans are neutral to positive about Pride merchandise in stores and nearly three-quarters of Americans are neutral or feel positive about a company offering Pride merchandise, the poll found.
Opposition from some conservative quarters is common, but bursts of outrage usually fizzle quickly. In fact, before last year, companies were more likely to face criticism for “rainbow-washing”: using Pride promotions to signal support for the LGBTQ+ community without making meaningful commitments.
That’s not the case anymore. So, after years of weighing in on divisive topics, business leaders are trying to steer clear of the nation’s culture wars.
Transgender issues in particular have emerged as a conservative flashpoint. Hundreds of bills restricting LGBTQ+ rights have been introduced and dozens have passed. Harassment and violence targeting gay and trans people has surged. Last year’s Target backlash was driven by false allegations that it was selling swimsuits for children with features for trans girls.
Neil Saunders, managing director of GlobalData, said mainstream brands know they can’t please everyone. He expects they will celebrate Pride in moderation, toning down the merchandise and keeping promotions under the radar.
“If you promote Pride, some people will be unhappy with it. If you don’t promote Pride, some people will be unhappy about that. It’s not a battle you can win completely, which is why some retailers and brands are taking a middleof-the-road approach,” he said.
Survey finds some companies not changing plans
Some companies said they were staying the course. Levi Strauss & Co. told USA TODAY it has no plans to scale back its Pride Month celebration.
“This year’s Pride collection marks ten years the Levi’s brand has been celebrating Pride . ... We are excited about this year’s collection and our plans,” the company said in a statement.
Wells Fargo, another longtime supporter of the LGBTQ+ community, said it would celebrate Pride Month by putting on employee events, supporting LGBTQ+ organizations and sponsoring parades across the country.
“Our plans this year are not scaled back,” Wells Fargo said in a statement.
Jared Todd, senior press secretary for the Human Rights Campaign, said his organization is not yet seeing many corporations back off their support for Pride Month.
“Granted, many companies have yet to announce their Pride plans publicly, so things could always change,” Todd said.
Similarly, Gravity Research recently surveyed 200 executives and found that most brands are not adjusting their Pride plans, said Luke Hartig, president of the firm. Thirteen percent said they were unsure.
“This indicates to us that corporations view last year’s anti-LGBTQ+ backlash as more noise than signal,” Hartig said. But where brands are pulling back, it’s because of pressure from conservative activists, he said.