June has arrived, bringing with it the annual dread of woke corporations engaging in excessive virtue-signaling and pandering to the LGBTQ crowd. As if enduring LGBTQ propaganda for the other 11 months wasn’t enough, June takes it to a whole new level. It’s a solid 30 days of being bombarded with rainbows and ads featuring men kissing men, women kissing women, streaming services showcasing LGBTQ content, and so much more.
But Pride Month might just look slightly different this year. And we all know why.
It’s now been two months since Bud Light decided it would be a great idea to partner with transgender activist and TikTok star Dylan Mulvaney. The move, which was meant to expand the company’s customer base and refresh the company’s “fratty” image and “out-of-touch” humor by promoting “inclusivity,” backfired spectacularly, as customers were not happy with Bud Light partnering with an adult man who is only famous for pretending to be a girl.
Flashback: I’m so Done With Pride Month
Customers stopped buying the beer, and distributors found themselves with surplus product that they couldn’t sell because of the huge decline in demand. The company’s immediate response to the backlash was to downplay its relationship with Dylan Mulvaney. The company has lost a staggering $27 billion in market value, as shares of Anheuser-Busch are now down nearly 20% from its high point in March. According to Fox Business, the month of May was Anheuser-Busch’s third-worst month for company shares. According to reports, some retailers were literally giving the beer away for free. According to data supplied to Newsweek by Bump Williams Consulting and Nielsen IQ, Bud Light’s sales volume experienced a decline of 29.5% during the week ending on May 20, in comparison to the corresponding period of the previous year. The data also revealed a decrease of 25.7% in sales revenue during the same timeframe.
Target, which went woke years ago, is now finally experiencing financial pain after unveiling its 2023 “pride collection” in stores. This collection includes clothing, merchandise, and books that promote transgender ideology to children. Target also received backlash for carrying items in their stores from a designer aligned with satanism. In an attempt to avoid a “Bud Light situation,” the pride collection displays were relocated and reduced in select markets. Despite their best efforts, the company has lost $13 billion in market value over nine days as a result of the backlash.
So what’s the good news about pride month? Well, it turns out that in light of the successful boycotts of Bud Light and Target, woke companies are thinking twice about getting all dolled up with rainbows this year.
According to Daniel Korschun, associate professor of marketing at Drexel University, executives “are becoming much more skittish about taking these stands and making strong statements.”
He added, “The pendulum is swinging a bit back … toward a more conservative approach, where they’ll be less vocal.”
“Campaigns that may have been considered low-risk are now drawing ire from public figures who oppose trans rights along with their supporters, creating a PR mess that may hurt sales,” reports CNN. “Backing away — rather than quelling the negative reactions — has dismayed the very demographic the campaigns were supposed to reach and may close avenues for future inclusive marketing efforts.”
When you read between the lines, it’s clear that woke companies are realizing that it’s actually risky to push LGBTQ propaganda as it alienates a huge portion of its consumer base. And when they vote with their wallets, the woke companies suffer. What does this mean? It means that if we keep the pressure on, the month of June might become tolerable again.
There’s still a lot of work to do, so keep it up!
