North Face’s celebration of pride month last year was so over-the-top that it looked like the Babylon Bee created it. The company paraded around drag queen “Pattie Gonia” in its new summer pride collection (including a youth line) where the figure promoted a series of events to “gay sashay across the nation.” Indeed, North Face stretched pride month into the entire summer. As actor Kevin Sorbo commented at the time, the campaign was so extreme it was as though the company told Bud Light to hold its beer. That’s why this year’s celebration of pride month is so interesting.
While North Face doubled down at the time, defending its work with Pattie Gonia (the second year in a row they did so), this year’s video marking the start of pride month is noticeably different. Take a look.
North Face goes WOKE!
— Oli London (@OliLondonTV) May 24, 2023
The outdoor clothing brand has released an advertisement for the brands new ‘Summer of Pride’ campaign which includes rainbow covered clothing for children.
The ad features a Drag Queen encouraging everyone to “Come Out.” pic.twitter.com/X4F0sv2kHm
"Beyond a month or a moment, we’re proud to support LGBTQ+ communities through our Explore Fund when it counts most: Always," reads the 2024 post marking the beginning of pride month.
"Beautiful message but your pride campaign seems quite toned down compared to past years…and no pride collection like usual. Why?" one Instagram user commented.
Hint: it has to do with the bottom line.
After backlash over pride month campaigns last year, North Face isn’t the only company to tone it down considerably this year. As Madeline reported, Target scaled things back, as did Bud Light and Nike.
Looks like these companies got the message loud and clear.