Disingenuous support looks like this: Adidas changing their branding to show Pride love while continuing to support the world cup in Russia, where anti-LGBT+ laws are enforced. Or BMW UK adding a rainbow colour scheme to their logo, but avoiding it for BMW Middle East lest they get on the wrong side of anti-LGBT+ governments.
 

These are some of the hypocrisies of the bigger, corporate brands. But well-intentioned, smaller brands can fall into the trap of surface level support too. 

While Pride is a time for celebration, its true origins of protest and creating meaningful change have become obscured, with brands appropriating and overusing the Pride flag – also known as rainbow-washing – without showing anything more than short term, public-pandering support. And in fact, we’re seeing that with younger generations the sentiment of rainbow flags isn’t one that resonates as strongly anyway, with ‘just 14% of Gen Z look[ing] favourably on rainbow flag campaigns’. When support comes in the form of ‘loud and proud’ marketing schemes from which only the brands monetise, it makes sense that people are sceptical of intentions. 

That’s not to say that these visual symbols and statements of support don’t mean anything at all. But it needs to make sense for your brand. Aesop, for example, went beyond the rainbows and took a more considered approach to celebrating Pride, staying in line with their brand personality and making no attempt to hero themselves in the comms. So unless you’re also taking thoughtful, sincere and sustained steps to create change and aligning values internally too, waving a flag for all but one month won’t be very convincing.