If Big Corporations Sponsor Pride, Where’s the Support for Everyone Else?

In recent years, the annual Pride season has become synonymous not just with parades and public displays, but with a sudden explosion of corporate logos wrapped in rainbow colours. From banks to supermarkets, telecoms giants to beer brands, the Pride logo now seems less a symbol of community solidarity and more a compulsory marketing accessory.

This year is no different. As reported by the BBC, dozens of major corporations have once again stepped forward to fund and support various Pride events across the country. In many cases, these are the same companies that, for the other eleven months of the year, offer no visible support to any wider or alternative social causes. It raises a simple but reasonable question: where is the support for everyone else?

Let’s be clear. There’s nothing inherently wrong with companies choosing to back LGBTQ+ events. If a business genuinely wants to show support, and that support is rooted in action rather than pure optics, fair enough. But if the argument is that such support is a matter of equality, tolerance and representation, then that principle should be extended fairly and evenly across the board.

Where’s the Balance?

We live in a country where heterosexual people still make up the vast majority of the population. They, too, form communities. They, too, raise families, contribute to local culture, and support society in all its forms. Yet in the current landscape, there appears to be no effort whatsoever by big business to recognise or celebrate anything that might be seen as ‘traditional’.

You will not see corporate logos on flags for a “Family Day Parade.” You will not find supermarket aisles themed for “Heterosexual Appreciation Month.” Nor will you find TV adverts proudly showcasing the common heterosexual couple raising children, without some attached political message or caveat. Instead, everything is increasingly curated to suit the modern, progressive agenda — often at the expense of common-sense balance.

Is This Really About Equality?

If corporations claim that their involvement in Pride is about diversity and inclusion, then logically that same commitment should extend to other groups. But it doesn’t. That’s the problem.

Equality doesn’t mean giving preferential treatment to one group while ignoring the rest. It means applying the same principles of respect and support to all. By sponsoring only Pride events and ignoring any other form of recognition, these companies are not demonstrating inclusivity. They are, in fact, engaging in exclusion by omission.

And the reason is as clear as day: marketing. Pride sponsorship is not a grassroots movement anymore; it’s a PR exercise. It’s a box-ticking display of virtue that allows executives to slap a rainbow on their profile picture and claim moral superiority. And when backlash comes — as it did with the BBC’s Glastonbury coverage, which many found politically charged and inappropriate — these same corporations hide behind hashtags and slogans, rather than facing the public with any transparency.

A Fair Alternative

So what would true equality look like? It’s simple. If Tesco, HSBC, British Airways, or any other major corporation feels it is important to support Pride, then they should also be willing to support other demographics — not out of competition, but consistency.

That could mean backing events for families, veterans, carers, or even — dare we say — a day celebrating traditional relationships and lifestyles that form the backbone of this country. It doesn’t have to be politicised or confrontational. It just has to be equal.

The Bottom Line

Pride is no longer just a community event — it is now a commercial product. And when companies start picking favourites, while claiming to stand for inclusion, people start noticing the hypocrisy.

So the question isn’t why corporations support Pride. It’s why they support nothing else.

If equality is the goal, then it’s time to start practising it properly.