Proud of pride or pink-washing?

Get ready for the rainbow: the start of June now sees a veritable avalanche of kaleidoscopic logos and branding as companies celebrate Pride. But how authentic is this support—and will it last more than a month?

Rainbow bunting for the office? Check. Ally badges? Check. And finally... rainbow-coloured version of the company logo? Check. You and your business are all set for Pride... or are you in fact skirting dangerously close to the realm of pink-washing?

As the month of June rolls around and the world prepares to celebrate LGBTQ+ communities around the world through Pride festivals, parades and events, we'll be seeing beer breweries, banks, fashion labels and washing detergent brands adopting rainbow versions of their logos. In some ways it seems like an easy way of showing support—like waving a flag from the sidelines or giving something you approve a thumbs up.

But with LGBTQ+ adults holding a combined buying power of $3.7 trillion dollars in 2019 (Forbes) there’s an increasingly commercial motive for getting on the Pride bandwagon—and it’s not about acceptance, equality or celebrating the work of LGBTQ+ people. It’s about making money.

It’s been dubbed “pink-washing” or “rainbow-washing” and it works in the same way as green-washing—a cynical attempt by well-known brands to attract sustainably conscious customers by trumpeting their eco-friendly credentials (without doing anything of real impact—as we mention in this article from last year).

As marketing consultant John Riggin said in a Medium article, the best thing any brand can do during Pride month is to put their money where their mouth is. “As a hip, young, professional gay man that works in marketing, another basic rainbow logo is the last thing I want to see during June. Most of the LGBTQ+ community at large feels the same way. We want to see stories of empowerment. We want to see community involvement. We want to see you throwing your support behind local queer organizations. We want to see 1-5% of your proceeds or profits donated to LGBTQ+ youth projects.”

So, as a company or brand owner, what can you do to celebrate Pride? Here at ALHAUS, we help brands to tell their stories and key to that process is authenticity. If you have a genuine desire to become a better LGBTQ+ ally and truly celebrate diversity, there are some concrete ways of doing just that—and not just across one month of the year.

Inclusive language: Be aware of how you're speaking to your audience. Working with an agency to create an inclusive language guide will help you avoid bias, slang, or discriminatory terms and include language that reflects peoples’ choice and style in how they talk about themselves (this extends to imagery too).
Inclusive design: Adopt an intentional marketing approach that ensures no one feels left out of the conversation. Consider how your audience chooses to identify, i.e., race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, ability; read our interview with product designer Eriol Fox for more on this.
Embracing diversity: As a leader, it’s up to you to start conversations that will set the tone, increase accountability and improve transparency. Work on your own skills and weave your inclusive policies into the actions you take every day. For more on this, read our interview with diversity coach Philippa Ryder.
Giving back to communities: This is almost one of the easiest and most practical measures you steps you can take to be a year-round ally rather than a Pride part-timer. As John Riggin says: “If you expect the LGBT+ community to invest in your brand, you should invest in the LGBT+ community.”

Words by Caitrina Cody