The hollowness of corporate Pride

Corporations — entities that have long capitalized on social causes to chase profit — seem to be telling on themselves with an apparent pullback on Pride Month marketing this year.

“There’s been a definite scaling back in both big and small ways,” Joanna Schwartz, a marketing professor who studies outreach to LGBTQ audiences at Georgia College & State University, told Vox. “I had expected some brand caution, but this year seems [to be] a near full-scale retreat.”

Multiple marketing experts Vox spoke to noted that some stores have toned down their messaging or decided to offer less merchandise — and, as the Associated Press put it, “at some chains, there’s no trace of Pride at all.”

Target, for instance, announced that it would limit Pride merchandise sales to roughly half of its stores, while Nike said it wouldn’t launch a Pride collection this year. (A Target spokesperson reiterated the company’s commitment to the LGBTQ community and pointed to its internal programs, Pride products, and its support of in-person events. A Nike spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment.)

These announcements come in the wake of conservative backlash directed at Bud Light in 2023, following its social media partnership with trans influencer Dylan Mulvaney. Target, similarly, was the subject of Republican attacks due to its Pride displays and the trans-inclusive clothing it stocked.

It’s important to note that not every company has reacted in this way. Brands like American Eagle and Levi’s have maintained and even expanded their Pride merchandise lines. Schwartz notes that although some companies may have dialed back prominent displays for Pride, many are still sponsoring parades and giving to nonprofits, a way to show their support without attracting as much ire.

It’s not like Target’s rainbow bandanas for dogs were ever the end-all, be-all of equality. “Recognition as a consumer base is a hallmark of minority progress in America,” Naveen Kumar wrote for Them in 2019, but, he added, commercial visibility has never meant victory for the queer rights movement.

The visible changes that some companies are making, though, still send a concerning message. As Republicans ramp up their attacks on LBGTQ people, including policies curbing trans rights and health care access, advocates worry that companies’ willingness to cave to these attacks seemingly condones them.

“When they back away in fear, they put the queer community at greater risk of harassment, intimidation, and violence,” says Paul Irwin-Dudek, the deputy executive director of development for GLSEN, an LGBTQ rights advocacy group.

This year’s Pride offerings follow conservative pushback to a handful of specific campaigns last year.

“The goal is to make ‘pride’ toxic for brands,” Matt Walsh, a conservative pundit, said on X in 2023. “If they decide to shove this garbage in our face, they should know that they’ll pay a price. It won’t be worth whatever they think they’ll gain.””

Specifically, those on the right boycotted Bud Light after it worked with Mulvaney and sent her some free beers. The business fallout from that boycott was especially intimidating, experts say. After the GOP attacks, Bud Light sales were down 28 percent compared to the same period in prior years, Harvard Business Review explains. A CNN Business report finds that the boycott has likely led to more than $1 billion in sales losses for the brand.

Target was also attacked in 2023 for its sales of items during Pride Month including a swimsuit aimed at trans customers. This outcry prompted the company to remove certain Pride items from its stores due to “threats impacting our team members’ sense of safety and well-being while at work.” Target has said that the negative attention from the controversy also led to a dip in its sales.

Both of these cases have made some brands more wary this year. “From my perspective, companies appear to be trying to maintain support for LGBTQ issues but in ways that are less controversial or public,” says Drexel University marketing professor Daniel Korschun. “They’ve been rattled.”

Tim Bennett, a co-founder of Tribury, a firm that specializes in marketing to LGBTQ audiences, says he’s seen far fewer clients reaching out for Pride Month collaborations as well. “In speaking with my peers, most of us are experiencing the same pullback or wait-and-see approach,” he told Vox. LGBTQ influencers, too, have said they’ve seen fewer brand sponsorships this year.

This isn’t universal. GLAAD and the Human Rights Campaign, both queer advocacy groups, say they continue to see strong corporate commitments and that some companies may be moving from Pride Month-specific investments to ones that are more consistent and year-long. A 2024 survey of Fortune 500 leaders from Gravity Research found that 78 percent of companies didn’t intend to change their Pride Month approaches, while 9 percent intended to and 13 percent weren’t sure.

That same survey found that the industry most likely to change its approach this year was consumer goods, with 30 percent of companies in this field saying that they planned to do so.

In the last decade, a number of companies have painted themselves as committed to liberal causes to appeal to potential employees and customers. Often, these initiatives — including those addressing issues like racial equality and climate consciousness — are short-lived, leading progressive advocates to argue that such efforts are simply posturing. The decision by some brands to pull back on their Pride marketing seemingly affirms these accusations and offers a troubling signal about the current US political climate.

Polling from PRRI in 2024 found that, in 2023, 76 percent of adults in the US supported policies that protect LGBTQ people from discrimination. That's still an overwhelming majority, but it's a slight decrease from 80 percent who said the same in 2022.

Companies’ willingness to cave to conservatives ultimately gives their views more power as Republicans continue to roll out these attacks. Republican officials have tried to restrict the teaching of LGBTQ stories in schools, for example, and numerous states have passed laws restricting health care access for trans people.

“When queer youth see anti-gay and anti-trans bills being introduced nationwide and corporations pulling back their support, it reinforces the harmful notion that the LGBTQ+ community is ‘less than’ and undeserving of basic human rights,” says Irwin-Dudek.

This story originally appeared in Today, Explained, Vox’s flagship daily newsletter. Sign up here for future editions.