Rainbow Pride Vans shoes for sale in 2019. | Source: Shutterstock Rainbow Pride Vans shoes for sale in 2019. Ostrow, the PVH-owned brand's acting chief marketing officer. This year, however, brands like HBO and Maybelline have planned broader campaigns that extend well beyond the month.Ĭalvin Klein, too, went with an "always on" approach, with LGBTQ-themed content teed up to run online throughout the year, said J.D.
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But an evolution is underway.ĭuring Them’s first full year of publishing in 2018, for example, most ad revenue was related to Pride and was displayed in and around June, said Paul Robertson, Condé Nast’s head of brand marketing. Plenty of companies have stuck to the one-off rainbow T-shirt strategy this year. “A lot of the ideating around Pride was happening in a corporate vacuum.” “It’s reached a critical mass, the point of everyone splashing a rainbow on a salad bowl or toothbrush to participate, but members of the queer community had been wondering who this was for, and what is this even about?” said Whembley Sewell, executive editor at Them, Condé Nast’s LGBTQ site. In 2019, only 64 percent of companies that ran a Pride campaign actually donated to an LGBTQ cause, according to Reboot, a digital marketing agency. However, companies may have overestimated demand for rainbow merchandise: 40 percent of items tracked by Edited were on markdown by mid-July last year, and 90 percent went on sale by August.Ī backlash has been building as well, with LGBTQ activists saying many Pride collections exploit the community for profit without providing much in the way of support. Pride products now run the gamut, from Goose Island’s drag queen-inspired beer to rainbow MAGA T-shirts from President Donald Trump’s campaign website. Last year, fashion brands introduced over 5,000 Pride-themed products in the UK alone, a 164 percent increase over 2018, according to Edited. Marketing around Pride has exploded in the last few years, with brands eager to show their solidarity with (and, critics would say, capitalise on) a cause that’s popular with younger consumers. We want to bring awareness to our audience."įashion’s approach to celebrating - and profiting from - Pride was probably due for a correction even before the pandemic and the protests. "We're not just doing this to sell T-shirts or what have you. “Pride is super important, but we didn’t want that to overshadow what’s been happening because timing-wise it was just tricky,” said Todd Snyder, whose brand postponed the release of its Pride collection of T-shirts and sweatshirts featuring designs by LGBTQ artists, from mid-May until June 23 due to the pandemic. Pride is super important, but we didn't want that to overshadow what's been happening.
Even with this year’s pullback, hundreds of brands released collections in May and June. Young people in particular want the companies they shop with to openly support LGBTQ rights. It’s a quandary for brands, many of which still see Pride as a key way to connect with customers. With no parades, concerts or parties to post about, consumer engagement with the #Pride hashtag has plunged by nearly 80 percent for 50 large fashion brands tracked by Tribe Dynamics. Most cities have cancelled in-person events meant to recognise and celebrate the LGBTQ community, and Abercrombie isn’t the only brand to dial back its online marketing during the protests. In the US, the number of Pride-themed clothes and accessories for sale is down 58 percent compared with last year, according to retail data firm Edited. "We’re not celebrating the way we usually do until all of us can celebrate - together," the brand said in an Instagram post on Sunday.īrands have eased off the usual flood of glittery, brightly hued merchandise and pro-LGBTQ marketing campaigns this year, guessing that between the pandemic and the Black Lives Matter protests, consumers aren't in the mood to buy rainbow underwear and T-shirts. Items in the Pride collection are on sale at 20 percent off. Most of Abercrombie’s most recent posts are stark black boxes, most displaying statements in solidarity with the Black Lives Matter protests. Another showed Jari Jones, the trans model, actress and activist, laughing while reclining on a couch in another of the brand's shirts, this one featuring the pastels of the trans flag. One post showed a limited-edition T-shirt with the slogan "Bright Future" in rainbow letters.
NEW YORK, United States - Abercrombie & Fitch's Instagram account had all the hallmarks of the usual late May ramp-up to Pride Month. Join us on Wednesday for a half-day of online events exploring fashion’s responsibility to people and the planet as the world grapples with a climate emergency, racial injustices and a once-in-a-lifetime economic and public health crisis.