As a member of Gen Z, I have watched the LGBTQ+ movement develop right in front of my eyes in light of the last few years full of controversy and activism. When I was a child, the only time I felt like I truly saw rainbows in public was about childish toys and games such as Barbies or Legos. Recently, however, this has completely changed as the rainbow has taken a far more symbolic approach.
Every year during June, stores become flooded with all the colors of the rainbow. We see flags, parades, and television broadcasting giving light to Pride Month- a month we dedicate to those in the LGBTQ+ community and how far they’ve come in history.
With time, we have watched as companies have changed their brand to better demonstrate their activism for their movement and one company has hit the nail on the head: P&G.
Heck, I use some of their products daily like my laundry detergent and toothpaste but never in a million years did I take the time to investigate their activism.
During Pride Month (and all the time for that matter), P&G strives to “lead with love” as they claim there is no better time to “reaffirm our commitment to accurate and authentic visibility while helping those that need it most by building upon our past efforts” (P&G).
How They Do It
How exactly does P&G do this though? To start, last year P&G partnered with GLAAD to launch The Visibility Project. The Visibility Project is a campaign they developed to help drive and sustain, the inclusion of the LGBTQ+ community in advertisements and are using it as a roadmap for even greater efforts towards inclusion.
Of course, during the pandemic activism everywhere was soaring. Every day on social media I would see a new movement or protest and P&G was sure to get in on the action. In 2020, P&G partnered with a few companies who together raised $5 million for LGBTQ+ communities that were most heavily affected by the pandemic.
Where P&G really kills it during Pride Month was during their 2020 and 2021 partnership with iHeart Radio with the “Can’t Cancel Pride” event. Huge celebrities like P!NK, Jojo Siwa, and Troye Sivan all performed at the benefit to raise money for the community. In 2020 alone, the event raised $4.1 million and the hashtag #cantcancelpride was trending in 5 countries. Don’t worry, the event is happening again this year with even more partners with appearances from Lizzo and Dove Cameron (just to name a few).
Companies can plaster rainbows across every hall in their building but until they start doing Pride Month “right,” P&G’s efforts have them all beat.
