Big brands retreat from Pride sponsorships amid shifting corporate landscape

04/30/2025 / By Laura Harris

Major brands like Mastercard, Budweiser, PepsiCo and Nissan are scaling back or withdrawing from high-profile Pride events, with some opting for smaller, local engagements or internal initiatives instead.
Nearly 40 percent of Fortune 1000 executives surveyed cited pressure from conservative activists and political figures as a reason for reducing involvement, per a Gravity Research poll.
Forty-three percent of companies plan to cut back on Pride-related marketing (merchandise, social media, sponsorships), while 19 percent will dial down internal LGBTQ+ workplace programs.
Some brands attribute their pullback to budget reviews and fears of backlash, particularly amid rising tensions over diversity programs and trade policies under discussion linked to Trump-era economic strategies.
Despite public retreats, some corporations still fund LGBTQ+ initiatives quietly, requesting anonymity in Pride materials to avoid controversy while maintaining behind-the-scenes support.

Major corporations are stepping back from their long-standing sponsorships of high-profile Pride events.

Mastercard, a decade-long supporter of New York City’s Pride March, confirmed it will not renew its “platinum” sponsorship for 2025, though it will still participate in the march and other events.

Similarly, Anheuser-Busch InBev (Budweiser) and Diageo recently withdrew from Pride events in St. Louis and San Francisco, respectively, following backlash in 2023 over LGBTQ+-themed campaigns that alienated some consumers.

PepsiCo, Nissan, Citi and PricewaterhouseCoopers have also opted not to renew their corporate sponsorships this year, citing a broader review of marketing spending.

Heritage of Pride, organizers of NYC’s march, reports that two-thirds of 2023 sponsors have renewed, but negotiations with others remain ongoing. Some brands have scaled back funding due to revised sponsorship packages that exclude ancillary marketing opportunities

Nearly 4 in 10 major corporations to scale back Pride sponsorships

Major corporations scaling back from their Pride sponsorships coincide with a new Gravity Research survey.

The survey, conducted from March 27 to April 4, has revealed that 39 percent of corporations are planning to reduce their engagement with Pride Month this June. Forty-three percent of those companies plan to reduce external displays of support, including Pride merchandise, social media campaigns and event sponsorships. Meanwhile, 19 percent will decrease internal LGBTQ initiatives, such as employee resource groups and workplace inclusion programs.

Only 41 percent of companies said their Pride support will not change, while the rest are undecided.

Luke Hartig, president of Gravity Research, said the findings reflect “how dramatically the cultural and political tides have turned,” noting that such a retreat on Pride engagement would’ve been unthinkable just five years ago. (Related: LGBT demonstrators disrupt Straight Pride parade in California for the second straight year.)

Eve Keller, co-president of the United States Association of Prides, a nonprofit that supports Pride event organizers in the U.S., echoed a similar statement. She explained that this trend comes from opposition to diversity programs under the second administration of President Donald Trump and economic worries from his tariffs.

“It’s multilayered and it’s all happening at the same time,” said Keller. In some cases, the fear of political backlash has led companies to continue supporting LGBTQ+ organizations discreetly, even requesting that their logos and branding be omitted from official Pride displays and merchandise.

Visit Resist.news for more stories about cities resisting the LGBTQ+ mafia.

Watch this video showing members of the Proud Boys humiliate Antifa during a Straight Pride rally.

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