June Monthly Marketing Round-Up

Happy Pride!!!!! June is our favourite month for marketing! We get excited to see rainbows everywhere and the sun (what sun? In Newfoundland?) brings out the best energy for dreaming up great ideas! That means June is about JOY rather than cynicism in our news feeds, on billboards, and where we shop. 

With that being said, this year has been super quiet on the rainbow revolution front! Seems companies are a little afraid to publicly support the Alphabet Mafia this year. We’ll get into that and so much more in our Pride edition monthly marketing round up! 

By the way, if you don’t support the 2SLGBTQIA community, get out of here. We don’t want to hang out with you! 

Rainbow Washing is Out

Now, a lot of companies are being accused of rainbow-washing this time of year. (Rightfully so!)  This happens as people start to take advantage of the goodwill around pride only in the month of June and basically ignore the community the rest of the year. It’s crappy and we hate it. 

Slapping a rainbow on everything to make a sale isn’t good marketing. It’s a cheap cashgrab that helps no one. There are, however, a lot of companies (like ours! 😉) who support the community year round. We’ve dug out a few clever and interesting marketing related stories for you to celebrate Pride with us! 

Bottoms Up!

The internet has its panties in a twist over the Hello Fresh viral post saying outright that they have a lot of great high fiber options in their meal plans for those preparing for Pride Month. A user quickly challenged the company to create a coupon code and Hello Fresh responded with “Use Promo Code BOTTOMSUP to get a Pride Month discount.”

*Slow Clap *

Not Demonstrating

In a year dubbed “quiet pride” in response to the hacking and slashing we’ve seen to DEI programs and inclusive operations, many companies are making quiet donations, but keeping showier support low-key. However, this year Apple doubled down and challenged other tech companies to pick a side when it comes to supporting the 2SLGBTQIA community. 

The company launched both the Pride Edition Sport Loop Apple watch strap, woven from a rainbow of 11 colors of nylon yarns, as well a series of Pride Luminance wallpapers for all your Apple products. The company is also explicitly calling out its direct financial support for LGBTQ+ organizations alongside the product launch.

Missed Opportunity

Meanwhile, an ongoing lawsuit between Pride-friendly brand Patagonia and drag performer and activist Pattie Gonia is surprising us all. The outerwear company is suing the performer, demanding they stop using the company’s logo and stop using the name Pattie Gonia when promoting apparel and products. Is that totally fair? Sure. Is it dumb that Patagonia - an admittedly progressive company, which supports the same causes as the performer? Yeah. It’s really dumb. Work together! Develop a brand deal. Figure it out because in the court of public opinion, the company will always lose. 

Are you Missing Out?

So while a lot of companies are showing less pride this year, we have to note that Canada is one of the few countries where support for 2SLGBTQIA+ rights has increased with nearly eight in 10 Canadians supporting same-sex marriage, equal adoption rights, and protection from discrimination in employment and housing.

In the 2025 Ipsos Canada’s Pride Report it says people in Canada approve of, and are more supportive of companies who are supportive of the LGBTQ community. Overall, Canadians spend more with companies who show their support, and consumers believe Pride advertising activities grow awareness and inclusivity. Further, research is showing that companies who have consistently invested in Pride events and products are more trustworthy and more successful than those who have gone quiet in the past couple of years. 

Check out the latest from And Humanity.

Wrapping It Up 

Well, that’s it from our Pride marketing wrap up. If you’ve seen a great campaign locally, nationally, or internationally, let us know! We love screenshots. And don’t forget our marketing round ups are on hiatus through the summer months. We’ll see you again for Back to School campaigns, the best ads we saw on vacation, and some of the awesome campaigns we ran this summer in September!