June is a superior month. Why? Summer Fridays, rooftop season, and it’s now culturally appropriate to wear white denim (as if we weren’t wearing it all along). June is also lucky enough to host to Pride Month. As millennials, we’ve grown wary of rainbow washing: when a brand splashes a rainbow on its wares without thought and “supports the LGBTQ community.” Sadly this disheartening trend is all too prevalent—these campaigns seem frivolous, tone-deaf, and aggravate the same community they’re trying to bolster. Remember when Uber attached rainbow flags to all the cars on its interface for no reason? That said, some brands and apps are doing cool things. Here are the campaigns we know about so far:
The pinning app reports a 2930% increase in pride-related searches from June 2016-June 2018. Top hits include “pride outfit,” “pride makeup,” “gay pride,” and “pride quotes.” So the app is celebrating accordingly and rolling out a rainbow colored text filter to all Pride-related searches. Pinterest will also showcase collections of Pride-related pins at the top of all search results.
Gap
Gap has unveiled a Pride-themed collection of clothing and accessories for men, women, children, and babies. The retailer will donate 15% of sales from the collection to the United Nations Foundation “U.N. Free & Equal” campaign: an effort that supports equal rights for the global LGBTQ community.
Ikea
The Swedish powerhouse has joined forces with the Human Rights Campaign Foundation to design and sell a $3.99 rainbow-colored shopping bag. “We believe equality is a fundamental human right and that all homes are created equal,” says Rafael Fantauzzi, Ikea’s Diversity and Inclusion Manager. The brand will donate all profits to the HRCF’s efforts to build supportive schools and communities for the LGBTQ youth.
What will other brands do? It’s still May, so we’ll have to wait and see. Stay tuned!
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