With 2019 marking the 50th anniversary of the Stonewall riots plus WorldPride in New York, it was hard not to spot a brand with a temporary rainbow logo, limited-edition product, or a billboard touting a campaign in support of the L.G.B.T.Q. community. The month of June always presents a prime moment for brands to celebrate Pride with events and activations as extensions of campaigns.
The idea of corporate Pride celebrations felt like Pride commercialization to some critics—some L.G.B.T.Q. employees at Google asked San Francisco Pride organizers to exclude the company from its parade—and the alternative Queer Liberation March protested corporate Pride the morning of the N.Y.C. Pride March. There's also concern that brands need to be transparent about how they actually support the L.G.B.T.Q. community with profits from Pride-theme merchandise.
Still, many brands in June celebrated with out-of-the-box activations that touted new initiatives and supported L.G.B.T.Q. rights organizations. Others showcased thoughtful twists to the typical rainbow design. Here’s a look at some Pride event highlights in New York, Los Angeles, Salt Lake City, and Toronto from brands including Kimpton, American Express, Lululemon, AT&T, and Smirnoff.
Lyft Pride Campaign Launch
Ride-sharing company Lyft celebrated its 2019 Pride campaign, which includes partnerships with the National Center for Transgender Equality and the Human Rights Campaign, with an event at Chinese Tuxedo in New York at the end of May. Designed by Bronson Van Wyck’s Workshop, the event featured colorful neon signs touting Lyft’s new pronoun options for passengers in its app.
Photo: Sansho Scott/BFA.com
Lyft Pride Campaign Launch
Painted plant centerpieces evoked colors of trans, bi, and gay Pride flags.
Photo: Sansho Scott/BFA.com
Lyft Pride Campaign Launch
A stage for performers, including drag queen Sasha Velour, was flanked by decor with campaign verbiage.
Photo: Sansho Scott/BFA.com
Skyy Vodka at L.A. Pride Festival
Skyy Vodka celebrated its Proudly American campaign with a “Home of the Brave”-theme reflective photo op at the L.A. Pride Festival. We Are Swell designed the structure, which featured a colorful Ferris wheel.
Photo: Courtesy of Skyy Vodka
American Express Pride Kickoff
American Express celebrate Pride in New York with an event exclusive to cardmembers at the Times Square Edition hotel. Lizzo performed at the event, backed by a live, digital art installation created by artist Shantell Martin.
Photo: Dia Dipasupil/Getty Images for American Express
American Express Pride Kickoff
Lizzo’s performance was broadcast on a jumbo screen in Times Square, which also featured imagery from American Express’s Pride-theme campaign.
Photo: Mike Coppola/Getty Images for American Express
Charli XCX: Live from the Artists Den
The Artists Den, an ongoing TV and music series, held a WorldPride edition at the Rooftop at Pier 17 in New York, headlined by pop artist Charli XCX. The event, which was sponsored by Colgate, featured a “Smile with Pride” step and repeat wall with florals and plants painted in red, yellow, green, and blue, extending to a grass floor. Artists Den partnered with Cogent to design Colgate’s activations at the event.
Photo: Kevin Condon for Artists Den
Charli XCX: Live from the Artists Den
A rainbow arch in the shape of a tooth provided another photo op for attendees.
Photo: Courtesy of Colgate
Charli XCX: Live from the Artists Den
Artists Den collaborated with Charli XCX’s team to design the stage, which featured mini LED cubes overhead and giant LED cubes on the stage that changed colors.
Photo: Joe Papeo
Microsoft A.I. and the Ally Coalition’s Feel The Pride
Microsoft A.I. partnered with the Ally Coalition, an organization that supports nonprofits dedicated to improving lives of L.G.B.T. youth, to hold an audiovisual experience in New York’s SoHo neighborhood. Participants on Twitter and in person answered the question “What does Pride mean to you?” and Microsoft Azure’s Sentiment Analysis tool translated the answers to a sound and light display set to the music of St. Vincent. The installation was created in partnership with sensory experience company Listen.
Photo: Courtesy of Microsoft
H&M Pride Party
H&M took over Brooklyn’s House of Yes for its Pride event, which launched the retail brand’s Stay True Stay You campaign. MKG produced and designed the colorful event, which featured an installation inspired by a New York bodega flower shop, with buckets of flowers in colors of the rainbow.
Photo: Neil Rasmus/BFA.com
H&M Pride Party
The event also featured a faux newsstand complete with H&M branded candy, Pop Socks, “Glammy Bears,” “Stay True Stay You” chocolate bars, and custom magazines.
Photo: Neil Rasmus/BFA.com
Kimpton's Brunch Out With Trevor
Kimpton Hotels & Restaurants, the national hotel partner of the Trevor Project—a suicide prevention nonprofit for the L.G.B.T. community—held a brunch event at Second Floor at Kimpton Hotel Eventi in New York. The event, which is part of Kimpton’s Off the Record music program, featured a festive runway for performances by drag queens including Willam and Rhea Litre.
Photo: Monica Schipper/Getty Images for Kimpton Hotel Eventi and Abercrombie & Fitch
Kimpton's Brunch Out With Trevor
Guests could pick up engraved cologne bottles at an Abercrombie & Fitch station.
Photo: Monica Schipper/Getty Images for Kimpton Hotel Eventi and Abercrombie & Fitch
Kimpton's Brunch Out With Trevor
The event featured a variety of Pride-theme brunch fare, including mini rainbow yogurt parfaits. The event was catered by Laurent Tourondel Hospitality.
Photo: Monica Schipper/Getty Images for Kimpton Hotel Eventi and Abercrombie & Fitch
LoveLoud Festival Powered by AT&T
The third annual LoveLoud Festival Powered by AT&T, which raises money for local and national L.G.B.T. nonprofits, took place at the Usana Amphitheatre in Salt Lake City in June. The festival pavilion featured AT&T photo ops and a tented ceiling that featured a continuous design of bright rainbows against a light blue backdrop. Production and design was helmed by Zev Norotsky of experiential marketing incubator Enter.
Photo: Jerod Harris/Getty Images for LOVELOUD Festival
Skittles Hall of Rainbows
Coinciding with Pride Toronto, Skittles Canada hosted a pop-up that served as a wedding venue for four L.G.B.T.Q. couples. The outside of the venue featured a rainbow heart entrance. It also touted the brand’s limited-edition Pride Skittles; the brand removed its regular rainbow colors from the packaging so the Pride rainbow could be the focus of the packages. Skittles inside the packages were all white. The event was produced by Eventsing in partnership with Edelman.
Photo: Shan Qiao Photography
Skittles Hall of Rainbows
The interior of the pop-up featured a wedding chapel-inspired environment, incorporating a rainbow aisle and Skittles into the furniture and decor.
Photo: Shan Qiao Photography
Skittles Hall of Rainbows
Drag queen and performer Shangela officiated the weddings of four couples at the pop-up, which was later open to the public.
Photo: Shan Qiao Photography
Skittles Hall of Rainbows
A white wedding cake was studded in white Skittles and featured a topper made of intertwined hearts with regular Skittles.
Photo: Shan Qiao Photography
Skittles Hall of Rainbows
A wall displayed portraits of the four married couples rendered in Skittles.
Photo: Shan Qiao Photography
Tinder Pride Slide
Tinder partnered with NA Collective and KM Productions to build a rainbow slide in New York’s Flatiron Plaza, which was open to the public on June 24. For each slide down, the dating app donated $10 to the Human Rights Campaign, supporting efforts to pass the Equality Act.
Photo: Diane Bondareff/AP Images for Tinder
Lululemon Proud & Present
Lululemon launch a digital and experiential initiative this year that invited employees to reflect on a series of L.G.B.T.Q.-related topics, developed with the company’s special advisory board and produced by MKG. The fitness apparel brand then partnered with the Trevor Project and MKG to create a space on New York’s Hudson Yards Pier for a yoga practice inspired by the topics that drew 500 people.
Photo: Iri Greco/BrakeThrough Media
Lululemon
The reflections submitted by employees also were rendered in a circular, rainbow installation at Hudson River Park, created by MKG. The installation was open through Pride weekend in New York.
Photo: Iri Greco/BrakeThrough Media
Smirnoff House of Pride
As part of the vodka brand’s new “Welcome Home” campaign, Smirnoff held a three-day pop-up in New York that featured six vignettes in colors of the Pride flag. The event took place in an indoor-outdoor space at 312 Canal St., and invited passersby to stop in to take photos in each room. Smirnoff partnered with Cornerstone Agency, the creative agency of the Fader, to produce the experience.
Photo: Dave Kotinsky/Getty Images for Smirnoff
Smirnoff House of Pride
During a V.I.P. event, Smirnoff ambassador Jonathan Van Ness stopped by to pose for photos in vignettes, which included a red room with a vertical bed. Photos taken provided the illusion of guests lying down in the bed.
Photo: Dave Kotinsky/Getty Images for Smirnoff
Smirnoff House of Pride
Van Ness was dropped off at the event in a rainbow taxi created for the event.
Photo: Dave Kotinsky/Getty Images for Smirnoff
HBO's 'Big Little Lies' Season 2 Event
HBO hosted an out-of-the-box celebration for season two of popular series Big Little Lies. Held on June 1—the official start of Pride month—the network teamed up with RQ Agency to design a party themed around character Amabella's birthday party. Located at a private estate in Los Angeles, the colorful, flower-filled event culminated in a performance from popular performer Alyssa Edwards and other drag queens who portrayed the "Monterey Five," the show's upper-class main characters. See more: 28 Fun Ideas From Recent TV and Movie Events
Matt Winkelmeyer/Getty Images for HBO 'Big Little Lies'
