As the month of June comes to an end and the massive Pride festivities die down throughout many parts of the country, so do all of the rainbow advertisements and "Love is Love" posters hung throughout many different companies. While some individuals argue that these companies are just partaking in the pride and love of June and supporting those members within the LGBTQ+ community, there are some individuals that see the counterargument. The argument that deals with companies are just embracing the season of the rainbow to make a few extra bucks with merchandise and clothing.
Companies that display their rainbow posters and start showing commercials and advertisements on television with LGBTQ+ couples and various pride events draw customers in and make them feel accepted. This, in turn, makes customers willing to spend a large amount of money on items provided by these companies rather than any other competing companies nearby. However, as soon as the month of June is over and people have settled down to celebrate on their own, the companies producing these types of advertisements also go back to producing the same cisgender, heteronormative advertisements and commercials they had been doing before.
These types of marketing strategies are not acceptable whatsoever. They feed off of the energy of LGBTQ+ community members and customers for their own personal benefit rather than actually supporting the rights and liberation of queer individuals. If the companies that displayed their rainbow flags and multi-colored posters and merchandise actually wanted to provide a safe and accepting atmosphere for their customers, anything rainbow would not suddenly go back into storage during the first week of July. Furthermore, by only displaying these advertisements during Pride month, members within the LGBTQ+ communities are made to feel even more outcast than before. These advertisements are shown as accepted within the time frame they are displayed, but any time period outside of June is seen as abnormal and unacceptable.
We live in a world where there are many different kinds of people, relationships, and races. The fact that there are still many companies and individuals that have problems with advertisements and commercials that showcase these unique characteristics and different types of people is hard to imagine. There should be more commercials than there is that feature these different people without the type of person being the main focus of the advertisement. For example, why is it that a Facebook advertisement for insurance policies draws so much attention to the fact that the homeowners are a lesbian couple? If these marketing strategies included different kinds of individuals more often, it would not seem so "abnormal" when exposed to the public.
Our world has changed many times over the last few decades, and there will be many more changes happening throughout the oncoming future. If we do not start to showcase and accept the different kinds of individuals in our society, there will be nothing but pain and feelings of unacceptance. By making these small changes through advertisements and other widely seen media, individuals will feel loved and represented within their community.
