Will Your Pride Month Campaign Meet the Moment?

It’s been nearly 25 years since Pres. Bill Clinton first designated June as Pride Month.

In the years since, the celebration has grown in popularity and brands are catching on, plastering rainbows on their social media pages, advertising displays, and apparel.

While many initiatives may be well impactful, others are simply cashing in on a trend with little intention of supporting LGBTQIA+ initiatives. 

Consumers have gotten smarter, too, and will no longer stand for rainbow washing. They want their dollars to go to brands that truly appreciate the LGBTQIA+ community’s needs and support them.

If you’re still planning your Pride Month campaigns, we’ve highlighted the best ones from 2022 to provide you with some inspiration! 


Tinder helped to end the blood-donation ban
Perhaps one of the year's least flashy, but most important Pride campaigns was Tinder’s work with the Human Rights Campaign to end the FDA legislation that prohibited men who have sex with men from donating blood.

On Jan. 27, 2023, the FDA announced that it had proposed a change to the ban, which now assesses blood donor eligibility using gender-inclusive, individual risk-based questions, similar to the systems used in the United Kingdom and Canada. 


Skittles gave up their rainbows
Skittles, which are famous for their “taste the rainbow” tagline, turned their packets grey for Pride. The goal? To turn consumers’ attention to the rainbow that matters (i.e., the Pride rainbow which symbolizes the LGBTQIA+ community). Skittles partnered with GLAAD to find six talented LGBTQIA+ artists to create pack designs that represented how they saw the rainbow. For every pack purchased, $1 went directly to GLAAD. The brand also created a content hub to highlight the artists who created the Pride Month packaging.


Absolut Vodka provided resources for bar owners
Absolut Vodka raised awareness of LGBTQIA+ bars, which have declined by 15.2% since 2019. The campaign provided resources for those establishments' owners, focusing on outposts bars. Outpost bars are gay bars located an hour or more away from another gay bar, which provide a needed safe space for the LGBTQIA+ community. In addition to the resources, Absolut created an audio-visual series with real stories about the role that LGBTQIA+ bars have played within that community. For every listen to one of the stories, Absolut increased its $175,000 donation to the National LGBT Chamber of Commerce by an additional dollar.

If you need help planning a brand campaign or employee volunteer event for Pride Month, our team can help. Meet with them!