Why did brands drop out of Pride Month this year?

<p>As 2025's Pride Month comes to a close, Campaign reflects on how the global DEI rollback has impacted the way brands show up for LGBTQIA+ communities.</p><br><p>Gay Times' chief executive <a href="https://www.campaignlive.co.uk/article/gay-times-lost-eight-10-advertisers-2024/1923120" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Tag Warner said the news outlet has lost £5m in ad revenue</a> this year due to eight of its top ten advertisers pulling their contracts, and Thinkbox's head of marketing Chris Dunne, who is also chief executive of Outvertising, also commented on the noticeable drawback by brands. While it might on the surface seem like the changes to DEI this year have impacted brands' support for LGBTQ+ communities, the drawback actually begun years before, and this year was more a "nail in the coffin".</p><br><p>Hosted by tech editor Lucy Shelley, Campaign's media editor Beau Jackson and deputy creativity and culture editor Charlotte Rawlings discuss what has led to brands stepping back, as well as highlighting some of the work that continues to celebrate Pride and raise awareness to wider LGBTQ+ issues. This includes <a href="https://www.campaignlive.co.uk/article/transactual-uk-%E2%80%9Cthird-toilet%E2%80%9D-bbh-london/1919136" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">TransActual UK's "Third toilet" by BBH London</a>, Tesco's internal policies and sponsorship of Pride, Lush donating 75% of profits from the Liberation bath bomb and Marks and Spencer's partnership with AKT.</p><br><p>Further reading:</p><p><a href="https://www.campaignlive.co.uk/article/pride-needs-action-not-allies/1922463" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Pride&nbsp;needs action, not allies</a></p><p><a href="https://www.campaignlive.co.uk/article/amnesty-pride-campaign-promotes-bracelets-badge-allyship/1921088" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Amnesty&nbsp;Pride&nbsp;campaign promotes bracelets as 'badge of allyship'</a></p><p><a href="https://www.campaignlive.co.uk/article/e45-unveils-ad-highlighting-trans-skin-won-c4-diversity-award/1873135" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">E45 unveils ad highlighting trans skin that won C4 diversity award</a></p><p><a href="https://www.prweek.co.uk/article/1920411/lgbtq+-pr-pros-think-brands-will-show-up-pride-2025" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Do LGBTQ+ PR pros think brands will ‘show up’ for Pride 2025?</a></p> <hr><p style='color:grey; font-size:0.75em;'> Hosted on Acast. See <a style='color:grey;' target='_blank' rel='noopener noreferrer' href='https://acast.com/privacy'>acast.com/privacy</a> for more information.</p>