We've Reached Rainbow Capitalism's End
I remember the heady days when Out magazine, which I edited from 2006 to 2018, would swell each June for L.G.B.T.Q. Pride month, its pages thick with ads. Our offices became cluttered with vodka bottles emblazoned in Pride flags, sneakers in rainbow hues, underwear so festively gay that they might as well have come with a parade permit. That deployment of marketing budgets to support the gay community became known as rainbow capitalism, and for a time it became a good business. So tickled were we by the excess of it all that we once devoted a feature to the annual deluge of swag. 'Look at this,' we seemed to say. 'We've arrived.'
Maybe we were naïve. The forces that once propelled corporate America into the arms of L.G.B.T.Q. America have pivoted, retreating under the weight of political backlash and the calculus of risk aversion. The pink pandering hasn't gone away entirely, but the Trump administration's assault on diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives has turned Pride from a brightly colored bandwagon for brands to jump on into a possible liability — or worse, a political statement.
Consider BarkBox, a purveyor of pet toys and treats, whose leaked internal message in early June laid bare the new corporate zeitgeist: 'We've made the decision to pause all paid ads and life cycle marketing pushes for the Pride kit effective immediately,' it read, adding, 'We need to acknowledge that the current climate makes this promotion feel more like a political statement than a universally joyful moment for all dog people.'
What was once 'universally joyful' is now, apparently, divisive. As if Pride were ever meant to be apolitical. The corporate retreat comes at a moment when pressure to reverse marriage equality is growing. This month the Southern Baptist Convention, emboldened by the overturning of Roe v. Wade, set its sights on Obergefell v. Hodges, the Supreme Court ruling that legalized same-sex marriage nationally 10 years ago next week. What a way to mark an anniversary.
BarkBox is no titan of industry, but such skittishness is echoed by giants. Garnier, Skyy Vodka, Mastercard, Anheuser-Busch, Diageo, PepsiCo, Comcast, Citi and PricewaterhouseCoopers have all slashed their Pride commitments this year, fleeing the parades they once clamored to sponsor.
Target, long a mainstay of rainbow capitalism, seems to be trying to revive a version of 'don't ask, don't tell' by trying to have it both ways: still a sponsor of New York City Pride but asking organizers to keep their involvement on the down low. (It was also booted as a sponsor of Twin Cities Pride after pulling back on its D.E.I. efforts.)
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