Business
Pride Month Backlash Put Pressure on Companies
Companies have been forced into a tough position as a result of the backlash against large Pride Month marketing, particularly in markets aimed at youngsters.
According to a recent CNBC report, businesses will have to make difficult decisions in the next years. According to Breitbart News, Bud Light has been a struggling brand since partnering with transgender TikTok sensation Dylan Mulvaney, and Modelo has surpassed it as America's number one beer.
Meanwhile, after opposing Florida's parental rights bill and including LGBTQ themes into children's films, Disney has made difficult financial decisions, implementing huge layoffs, and even losing Senior Vice President and Chief Diversity Officer Latondra Newton.Per CNBC:
The backlash wave across the country, which has disproportionately targeted transgender people, has even weighed on large companies with more liberal reputations. The union representing Starbucks baristas said dozens of the chain’s locations are not letting employees decorate for Pride Month in June — including at least one case where workers were told violence in response to Target’s Pride merchandise sparked safety concerns. The company said it has not changed any policy on decorations and is encouraging stores to celebrate Pride Month.
LGBTQ+ inclusion has in recent years been ‘standard business practice,’ said Sarah Kate Ellis, president and CEO of LGBTQ+ advocacy group GLAAD. But that practice has become trickier amid a ‘very aggressive legislative session’ in which hundreds of anti-LGBTQ+ bills — which target trans rights and how sexual orientation and gender identity are taught in schools, among other topics — have been introduced by lawmakers across the country.
Nonetheless, despite Pride Month goods branding, firms such as Nike, North Face, and Walmart have thrived. Nike even went so far as to remind irate consumers to “be kind, be inclusive” after partnering with Dylan Mulvaney.
Anson Frericks, former president of sales and distribution at Anheuser-Busch, believes that certain firms need to better understand their target demographic.
“Anheuser-Busch has lost sight of who its customer is. A brand like Bud Light is a brand that has never been political, but now they’re being shunned by customers on the right, who see this partnership as a very politicized position they’ve taken, and also customers on the left who don’t feel supported amid the backlash,” he told CNBC.
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