Pride 2024: Defeat or Tactical Retreat?
Pride Month was mild this year, but don't celebrate too early.
The French have a reputation for running from combat.
But don’t let any US Soldiers, Marines, or Airmen fool you. Americans have retreated in every major conflict since our nation’s founding.
Between the Battles of Long Island during the Revolutionary War, Gettysburg during the Civil War, and the Battle of the Bulge during WW2, US forces disengaged with the enemy to regroup and fight another day.
But tactically retreating isn’t the same as surrendering. Let’s allow Pride 2024 to illustrate the difference.
Pride was mild this year in terms of advertising campaigns. We saw fewer trans influencers, pride-themed logos, and controversial social media posts.
As a result, many people are declaring a culture war victory.
For example, this time last year, Bud Light was cowering in a bunker, afraid to even fire a tweet after deploying trans influencer Dylan Mulvaney, resulting in one of the most successful boycotts in history.
This year, Bud Light refrained from posting Pride content on social media, instead focusing on their UFC partnership, and they suddenly became cool with using white people in ads again.
Although with less attention and far fewer casualties, Americans also attacked Nike last year after sponsoring Mulvaney in an Instagram ad.
This year, Nike relaxed on the Pride content and only offered one “Be True” shirt, the company’s pride line, online.
And nobody can forget the Tuck-Friendly Offensive of 2023 at Target, which forced the company to remove most rainbow clothing from stores.
Like the others, Target didn’t post any LGBT ads this year and had only one Pride shirt on its website.
That’s all great news from the front. Still, is it too early for champagne and ticker tape?
I doubt many marketing pros thought Dylan Mulvaney or trans clothes for kids would go over well with everyday Americans, but I’m guessing they didn’t know the backlash would be as severe as it was.
But I don’t think these moves were as much marketing campaigns as long-term investments.
By pushing progressive advertising, these brands improve their Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) and Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) scores, which opens future business opportunities with other companies and world banks.
But the lasting damage from the boycotts wasn’t just the lost revenue. It was the negative connotations now fused to words like wokeness, DEI, and ESG concepts.
Before ESG, it was Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), and before wokeness, it was social justice.
Communism never stops evolving.
So, is the minimal Pride campaigning we saw this year a surrender or tactical retreat?
Regrouping and Reassessing
Bud Light
As far as I can tell, AB InBev, which owns Anheuser Busch and Bud Light, removed their standard ESG and DEI reporting from their websites.
It appears all three shifted their inclusivity and equity content to sustainability plans, such as conserving and donating water, limiting waste, and encouraging responsible drinking.
Even employees cleaned up their LinkedIn profiles.
After searching for AB InBev’s ESG rep, I found Katie Hoard heads the department according to search results:
But after clicking the link into her profile, we see she updated her title to VP Sustainability, Reporting, and Engagement:
Target
Pride has been removed from Target’s ‘featured categories’ list, and I can’t find any Pride gear as I write this.
After searching the ‘About Us’ section, I found no mention of inclusivity or equity.
Like AB InBev, Target’s corporate sustainability and governance section focuses on climate awareness, responsible sourcing, and giving back to the community through programs and fundraisers.
As for company leadership, in 2023, Kiera Fernandez was listed as Target’s Chief Diversity and Inclusion Officer but changed her title to Executive Vice President and Chief Community Impact and Equity Officer.
Nike
On the other hand, Nike is dug in like a Japanese soldier on Iwo Jima.
But Nike is also the world’s biggest slave driver, so who’s surprised?
They still list an active DEI officer, with He/Him/El pronouns, whatever that is:
Some companies get away with it more than others, but overall, can we expect brands to shift their globalist agendas to new, vague acronyms as DEI and ESG become four-letter words?
It appears that not only is advertising toning down the wokeness, but investors are also shying away from ESG and DEI concepts behind closed doors.
For now, it appears corporations are leaning towards “Sustainability and Stakeholder Management,” at least as far as public-facing content goes.
Molson Coors replaced its DEI content with “People and Planet," and the DEI consultancy Elevated Diversity embraced the term “Leadership and Inclusion” over DEI.
We also see new concepts on the horizon, such as BRIDGE, which refers to “Belonging, Representation, Inclusion, Diversity, and Equity.”
BRIDGE’s board of directors has members from The Weather Company, Discover, and Unilever, which owns many brands such as Hellmans, Dove, and Vaseline.
At their BRIDGE 2024 conference, leaders hosted speakers from companies like the ad council, JP Morgan, and one of our favorites, Target.
Is BRIDGE the next offensive?
Stay Frosty
American consumers fought valiantly during these historical boycotts, and we should celebrate when we make a difference by voting with our dollars.
But don’t count on the globalists to wave a white flag anytime soon.
Remember that US forces retreated on the American Revolution, Civil War, and WW2 battlefields.
But they didn’t lose the wars.
Nothing in this world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not: nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not: the world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent. -Calvin Coolidge
Brand of The Week: Public Square
It started as an app to find which businesses didn’t enforce Hitlarian CV practices.
Today, Public Square has evolved into a central online marketplace that helps customers find brands that align with American values.
Whether you’re looking for a local dentist, homemade lotions, or American farm-raised meats, check out the latest at Public Square.
US Invasion Casualty of the Week: Rachel Morin
An illegal immigrant has been arrested for raping and murdering Rachel Morin, a 37-year-old mother of five, last year.
From Rachel’s obituary:
Rachel was best described as faith-filled, loving, and adventurous. She lived her life with an infectious zest, spreading joy and love wherever she went. Her life was a testament to the power of faith, love, and the human spirit. Rachel's spirit will live on through her family and the countless lives she touched.