Brands continue to steer clear of heritage months. Pride was no exception

The days of the annual rainbow logo seem like a thing of the past.

If corporate Pride was quiet last year, it was all but silent in 2025—with a few notable exceptions.

This year, Pride organizers big and small struggled to gain corporate support, both online and off. Mastercard, Nissan, PepsiCo, Citi, Diageo, Anheuser-Bush, and Comcast were among the national brands that pulled sponsorships in cities like New York and San Francisco, and Pride events in smaller cities faced a drop in donations of between 70% and 90%, according to data from the United States Association of Prides cited by Them. All the while, support on social media from brands that previously vocally supported Pride, including Amazon and Meta, was far more muted.

Overall, nearly 40% of brands reported that they planned to reduce their Pride engagement this year, according to an April survey from Gravity Research.

While in recent years brands have cited a fear of pushback from conservative activists, President Donald Trump’s inauguration seems to have upped the ante, causing decision-makers to fear potential political retribution. The majority of executives surveyed by Gravity cited the Trump administration as their top reason for scaling back on Pride this year.

All quiet on the inclusive front? This isn’t the first heritage month or day that’s felt quiet since Trump took office for his second term in January. Earlier this year, Target, which scaled back on Pride last year after an organized conservative boycott against the chain, has faced consumer backlash and drops in foot traffic after it pulled back on its DEI commitments and Black History Month activations.

During Women’s History Month in March, CEO of brand studio Notorious111, Katie Hooper, told us that one of the studio’s healthcare-related clients faced “instant backlash” on Meta platforms for a women’s health campaign; the brand, she said, ultimately decided to pause its rollout. On a larger scale, Hooper said she’s concerned about what she sees as brands’ reluctance to stand for much at all.

“What we’re seeing, which feels new, is this great sort of hesitancy to even be known for anything,” she said.

This month, that also seemed to include public support for Juneteenth, which commemorates the end of slavery in the US and was first recognized as a federal holiday in 2021; public engagement from Fortune 100 brands dropped 50% from last year, Gravity found.

Loud and proud: Not every brand was afraid to wave the rainbow flag during Pride Month this year. Brands like eos, Hornitos Tequila, Calvin Klein, American Eagle, Apple, Nordstrom, Levi’s, Puma, and Abercrombie & Fitch (and yes, even Target) ran Pride campaigns or sold Pride merch this month.

“To be honest, we never considered not celebrating Pride, and in fact our team felt passionately about doubling down,” Soyoung Kang, CMO of eos, told us in an email. “It’s the same reason we always have—because it reflects our brand values.”

While the number of brands outwardly supporting Pride has shrunk, employee sentiment may not necessarily be shrinking alongside it, at least when considering factors like internal policies and donations.

“I do see there’s pivoting happening [for Pride Month],” Sarah Kate Ellis, president of the advocacy group GLAAD, told CNN earlier this month. “What I don’t see is [corporations] walking away from the LGBTQ community.”

To that end, some brands, including Costco and Apple, have rejected anti-DEI proposals this year, despite mounting pressure from the Trump administration and conservative groups.

Hooper said that while her client’s experience around Women’s History Month was disappointing, it was also enlightening about how to move forward.

“What I want to make sure we’re counseling our clients to do is not back down when it’s something that you can authentically stand for,” Hooper said. “You should not feel like backlash from either real or non-real entities should cause you to wobble if your strategy is sound.”