News/Commentary

‘Profit before pride!’ These top firms celebrate with rainbow logos in the US… but NOT in the Middle East

June 5, 2023 | | Print Article

Big corporations in the United States such as Vogue, Pfizer, Cisco, BP, Mercedes-Benz, Bethesda, and General Electric are all displaying the LGBT Pride flag on their logos in June except when it comes to the Middle East, where it is notably absent.

Homosexuality is purportedly punishable by death in a number of Middle Eastern countries and it is certainly taboo there. These companies seem to be putting profits before their stance on Pride Month in the Middle East.

One example is Pfizer, which changed its logo in America, Mexico, and Canada, but did not alter it in Saudi Arabia, according to the Daily Mail.

Vox is reporting that in recent years, companies signaling allegiance with the LGBT community by adjusting their logos on social media have done so less and less.

Vogue magazine stands out more than most. It placed a multi-colored Pride logo on its main profile as well as on other accounts such as Vogue Runway, British Vogue, Vogue India, Vogue Japan, and Vogue Thailand. But on its Vogue Arabia page, there is a simple black and gold logo. Visitors noticed the exception.

Eli David, who is an Israeli artificial intelligence developer, was among the first to point out the hypocrisy.

“Big corporations are running out of ink in their Middle East pages,” he tweeted Saturday. “What could possibly be the reason?”

One person aptly snarked, “Profit before actual pride.”

Other commenters blamed huge financial institutions like BlackRock, which allegedly pushes ESG in order to control companies and force them to promote social agendas.

German auto manufacturers BMW and Mercedes-Benz both changed their logos to make a political statement on one Twitter profile and not the other.

American multinational communications corporation Cisco also did the same thing. Cisco’s Middle Eastern accounts, however, did put up a colorful banner image that read, “Powering an Inclusive Future for All.”

Video game developer Bethesda tweeted on June 2 celebrating Pride Month but its Middle East account did not address it at all.

CNN is bemoaning the fact that Pride Month is not as politically trendy as it once was.

“Companies have long embraced Pride Month in June as an uncomplicated way to market to members of the LGBTQ+ community while telegraphing progressive values,” CNN’s Danielle Wiener-Bronner wrote. “This year won’t be nearly so straightforward.”

With the boycotts of Bud Light and Target taking center stage, many companies seem to be much more reluctant to embrace Pride Month these days. They don’t want the marketing contagion to spread to their businesses it would seem. Those disastrous campaigns have cost the companies billions in revenue.

Companies “are becoming much more skittish about taking these stands and making strong statements,” Daniel Korschun, an associate professor of marketing at Drexel University told CNN in an interview. “The pendulum is swinging a bit back… toward a more conservative approach, where they’ll be less vocal.”

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Terresa Monroe-Hamilton
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