Do's and Don'ts of Marketing During Pride Month and Beyond
Every June brings about mixed emotions for members and allies of the LGBTQ+ community as a flurry of pride themed posts and pieces of merchandise make their way into the market. As valuable and vital as it is to acknowledge and celebrate the community, it’s equally important we talk candidly and critically about the ways some brands get it wrong when it comes to marketing or showcasing their support for queer and trans folks.
Let’s unpack the concept of Rainbow Washing, identify the best ways brands and businesses can showcase their allyship through meaningful actions, and talk through the ways you can avoid making tone deaf mistakes in the way you market during pride season.
Why Is This Important to Talk About?
It’s pride month—there’s about to be an annual flurry of performative marketing from brands trying to build relevance and reach with the LGBTQ+ community and its allies. Pride has become increasingly corporate and monetized each year, and while the growth in recognition and visibility for queer people is wonderful, the attention feels like it is being pulled away from the issues at hand in a way that has a harmful impact on the same people these companies are claiming to want to showcase and support.
Marginalized communities don’t want to be leveraged in a marketing stunt, which is why it's so important for us to continue to come back to this conversation around how we as creatives and marketers can engage in key cultural moments without coming off as unaware, exploitative, or tone deaf.
What Is Rainbow Washing?
Rainbow washing is increasingly common because folks, particularly Gen Z, are queerer than ever and lots of brands are simply trying to capitalize on that.
Rainbow washing as defined by Urban Dictionary is: “The act of using or adding rainbow colors and/or imagery to advertising, apparel, accessories, landmarks, etc. in order to indicate progressive support for LGBTQ equality (and earn consumer credibility)—but with a minimum of effort or pragmatic result.” Basically, rainbow washing is when a business, conglomerate, or other for-profit organization uses the rainbow Pride colors to suggest to consumers that they support the LGBTQI+ community, without having to put in actual effort or produce a tangible outcome for queer folk.
It can be hard to differentiate between genuine support and “Corporate Pride,” but here is what rainbow washing can look like:
Using LGBTQ+ team members or customers as props in content
Using the rainbow to push products
Underpaying queer talent
Changing logos temporarily
Claiming to care about queer people while fostering an unsafe workplace for queer staff
Running a pride campaign while contributing to anti-LGBTQI+ organizations or public figures
Here are a few examples of Rainbow Washing in action:
Toyota is one of the largest donors to LA pride, but have also donated more than $600k to anti-LGBTQ+ politicians in the past 3 years
Walmart has a “Pride & Joy” website but gives $1M plus to lawmakers who voted against the Equality Act, a bill that was designed to protect LGBTQ+ rights at the federal level
Bud Light’s “Let’s Grab A Beer Tonight, Queens campaign” claims to support and collaborate with the community, but they donate to anti LGBTQ+ politicians
Other companies like CVS, AT&T, Verizon, and CNN all donate in major ways to anti-LGBTQ causes and/or politicians
Do’s of Marketing During Pride Month and Beyond
Queer people need to be highlighted and amplified all year long, not just for one month out of the year. Here are some ways to ensure you do that:
Taking action in a tangible way is the most important thing brands and businesses can be doing to truly benefit the queer community during pride month.
Partner with or hire queer folks to help hone your content, or at a minimum, get their feedback
Remember, LGBTQ+ people are not a monolith—the community is very broad and it’s important to ensure your approach is too
Don’ts of Marketing During Pride Month and Beyond
Here’s what you shouldn’t do if you want to market inclusively, all year round:
Don’t make pride about you—use it as an opportunity to shine a light on the real issues at hand and call attention to the community and aligned causes
For the queer community, pride isn’t every June- it’s just the month the rest of the world either recognizes or revolts even harder against it. Marketing inclusively means making sure queer people are a regular part of your brand, your team and your clients. If you want to hear more about rainbow washing and the do’s and don’ts of inclusive marketing, listen to our episode on the Creative Friction podcast with Madeline and Jeff.
