This aspect of Pride Month looks different this year, and Twitter is noticing

Where are the Pride logos? What happened to rainbow capitalism? Don’t companies want our gay money anymore?

As anti-LGBTQ bills and laws endanger queer and trans Americans across the country—and after Bud Light and Target’s LGBTQ initiatives sparked conservative backlash and boycotts—it appears some corporations aren’t adding rainbows to their logos anymore.

As AdWeek notes, the “culture war has come for even performative marketing.”

Daniel Korschun, associate professor of marketing at Drexel University, tells CNN Business that corporate executives “are becoming much more skittish about taking these stands and making strong statements” and that “the pendulum is swinging a bit back … toward a more conservative approach, where they’ll be less vocal.”

Normally, we complain about companies that change their logo for the month of June but don’t do much else to support LGBTQ+ equality.

But as Twitter users point out, it’s even more concerning when companies don’t even add rainbows to their profile pics during a year when 520 anti-LGBTQ bills have been introduced in U.S. state legislatures, with more than 220 of those bills targeting trans and nonbinary individuals.

With research showing trans people are over four times more likely than cis people to be the victims of violent crime, you’d think more companies would throw a rainbow or two up on social media. Alas, corporate Pride hits different this year, and these Twitter users have noticed.

where are all the pride company logos pic.twitter.com/YnOjWsfXY5

— ? ? (@HailEternal) June 1, 2023

the thing is, criticizing the companies for performative rainbow logos only makes sense in a context where you think we are becoming more progressive as a society and they need to catch up. When we seem to be regressing instead, seeing them drop the logos is a bit unnerving ngl

— sanjana curtis! ? (@sanjanacurtis) June 3, 2023

damn we really just decided to skip pride logos this year huh.

— WyattIssues?? (@WyattIssue) June 1, 2023

corporate pride will always be perfomative and nothing can prove otherwise. however, the fact that rainbow capitalism is largely being discarded *now* when there’s been an increased anti-trans agenda in the states over the past year is not a great thing, either. https://t.co/WPYh8GlcS1

— big popular XOLARIS. (@xolashores) June 5, 2023

it’s june 1st and companies didn’t change their logos for pride month. it’s giving pic.twitter.com/9cMnPoT1GT

— zander (@zandirts) June 2, 2023

The lack of rainbow logos this year wasn’t the point of criticizing rainbow capitalism.

It was that the logos showed a hypocrisy where the same corps donate to anti-LGBTQ+ politicians and refuse to support trans employees.

Of course, rather than do that, they remove the logos.

— Erin Reed (@ErinInTheMorn) June 3, 2023

There is something so sinister in the air this pride month… like corporations aren’t even trying to capitalize… Its over pic.twitter.com/MdGByxjmbl

— north west fan #7 (@c4tieratch) June 2, 2023

btw, companies aren’t changing their logos to rainbow this year NOT because they’re taking a stand against rainbow capitalism or performative activism or something. it’s because they sense there will be more homophobic backlash this year.

— ellie (@radfemswiftie) June 3, 2023

it is simultaneously terrible that many corporations are too fearful (?) this year to brand themselves for pride and also exactly why we should not care about their fragile, hollow, for-profit pandering in the first place

— ben (@benvyle) June 3, 2023

no new pride corporate/brand logos today??? hmmm!!! pic.twitter.com/vMKnaKTV83

— khardashian (@kharitbh) June 1, 2023

Criticism of rainbow capitalism didn’t mean they should stop using the flag ???? It meant they should back that up with actions helping the community.

Not bothering with even a logo change is Worse, Actually.

— ???FunfettiGetti ???@ Enamel Pins (@FunfettiGetti) June 4, 2023

asking corporations if they’re celebrating pride month this year pic.twitter.com/JtE5wBrBEX

— ethan #CrackerBarrelHasFallen (@ethanshumjr) June 2, 2023