Pride Month, that annual celebration of the LGBTQ+ community, is both a great party and an important acknowledgment of LGBTQ+ people’s right to freely and unashamedly exist. (If you’re reading this and actually are a part of said community, skip on down to the real content. You probably know most of this stuff.)
In addition to the fun stuff, though, Pride is also a necessary reminder of less-fun stuff. The selection of June is in remembrance of the six-day Stonewall uprising in June of 1969, when police raided the Stonewall Inn for the purpose of arresting and assaulting the LGBTQ+ people who frequented it, and those people fought the hell back. There’s a lot of history. This year, the celebration comes in the context of a slew of bills targeting transgender people, right down to the kids. So Pride 2021 takes on even more significance.
Brands love to dig into Pride Month as an opportunity to show support for the LGBTQ+ community and/or make a crapload of money. Attempts vary. Results vary, too — some brands hit the mark, and some roll out such awful, insulting disasters that you want to confiscate their Pride Advertising card.
(“Pridevertising”? YES. Must credit Caperton Gillett Creative.)
But some are legitimately good. Some efforts are executed in concert with the community in question, based on more than just stereotypes and color schemes, and are accompanied by meaningful, tangible contributions. And those, while still commercialized, aren’t bad.
Of course, as a straight, cis person, it’s not my place to say what’s cool or not about LGBTQ+-related brand engagement. So here are a few Pride Month efforts by brands that appear to not be totally tactless and offensive and, in fact, appear to work, as determined by people more qualified than me.
Reebok
Reebok’s 2021 Pride collection can only be described as fierce. The shoes were designed by Colorful Soles, Reebok’s in-house all-LGBTQ+ group, and promoted in collaboration with the Iconic House of Ninja.
Much-imitated, oft-appropriated (we’re looking at you, Madonna) ballroom culture and the house system harken back to the early ‘80s as a place for LGBTQ+ people to feel safe and be themselves in a dangerous, hostile world. That’s why Reebok’s partnership with the Iconic House of Ninja, with ads featuring spectacular performances by actual house members, highlights such an important part of the history that has led us to Pride Month 2021.
The video tells us that “fierceness isn’t born, it’s made,” which even as a person who should and would never dare to grace a ballroom floor, I find inspiring.
But also: Shoes and shorts and tops are great (especially since they’re unisex, even offered in children’s unisex sizing), but making a real contribution is even better. In addition to their collection, Reebok has donated $75,000 to the Sylvia Rivera Law Project,
Savage X Fenty
Rihanna’s Savage X Fenty line has traditionally been known for overall inclusivity, body positivity, and its sincere embracing of the LGBTQ+ community, so it’s not really surprising that the brand would get it right for Pride Month. The lingerie line’s Pride Capsule Collection includes items from mesh bras to rainbow-trimmed jock straps, and an ad for the collection includes not just a diverse range of body shapes but also a diverse collection of models, including some prominent LGBTQ+ models.
Also, they changed their usual white logo to a rainbow one for Pride Month, which is cute.
But also: Rainbow jock straps are a good start (I’m assuming — people appear to like them), but when it comes to a real, meaningful contribution, the brand is there. Savage X Fenty has announced that they plan to distribute $250,000 among the Trans Latin@ Coalition and Wellness Center, GLAAD, the Audre Lorde Foundation, the Caribbean Equality Project, and INC.
Stoli Vodka
Stoli Vodka has actually been working with the Harvey Milk Foundation since 2018, releasing their Harvey Milk Bottle in honor of the 40th anniversary of Milk taking office as the first openly gay elected official in California. In honor of Pride Month, the brand has released their numbered, limited-edition Global Collector’s Edition bottle. The art comes from Paraguayan artist Oz Montania, and the collaboration is “is a message to people all over the globe that visibility is vital and that hope cannot be silenced, not just LGBTQ+ people, but for ALL people,” says Harvey Milk Foundation Education Director and Counsel Miriam Richter.
(Stoli also offers a limited-edition Spirit of Stonewall edition, with art by LGBTQ+ artist Lisa Marie Thalhammer, if you’re interested.)
But also: A portion of sales will go to support the Harvey Milk Foundation, so yes, they are making money off of it, but in light of the hundreds of thousands of dollars they’ve contributed throughout their partnership with the Foundation, I’m pretty sure this one is cool.
Levi’s
And of course we can’t forget Levi’s who, as part of last year’s Pride collection, cut the crotch out of some stone-washed 501s to make a pair of assless chaps that the LGBTQ+ community universally loved.
Kidding. They’re awful. I make it a practice to never get unilaterally outraged on behalf of the LGBTQ+ community, but these are a monstrosity. And I’m not alone in feeling that way.
Happy Pride Month
As a person who likes seeing my LGBTQ+ friends, loved ones, neighbors, and complete strangers celebrating who they actually are and honoring the journey it took to get here, I love Pride Month. And as a person in the advertising industry, I love to see brands not completely screw things up with insincere statements and blatant rainbow-washing, and instead make a sincere, informed effort to make a contribution, to help make things better, both through their celebratory products and the money they put where their mouth is.
None of this is to say that the commodification of Pride is not a real concern, or that even the brands who do it right still get a sales boost from their celebratory collections. Brands that make clearly empty gestures, or throw a month-long celebration that’s clearly at odds with the values they embrace throughout the rest of the year, are not just unhelpful but actively harmful. That’s why brands that actively ally with the community they’re celebrating are able to make a difference by actually making a difference.
So happy Pride to all who celebrate it and all the people who celebrate the people who celebrate it. Wear some rainbow stuff (and/or assorted other applicable color schemes). Educate yourself about Stonewall and other events that mark the history of the LGBTQ+ community. Make a donation. Party responsibly. And if your Pride Month plans involve pairing those Savage X Fenty rainbow undies with your new Levi’s chaps, I encourage you to very please not do that ever.