The North Face, a leading outdoor apparel brand, is encountering heat after it launched an ad featuring a drag queen to promote its new ‘Summer of Pride’ collection for children.
The collection includes rainbow-colored clothing for children. The drag queen is meant to encourage everyone to “Come Out” as part of its “Out in Nature” collection.
“Hi, it’s me, Pattie Gonia, a real-life homosexual,” the drag queen says in their new ad for The North Face. Gonia goes on to offer “an invitation to come out.” She gave a long, suggestive pause, and the word “COME OUT” flashed on the screen.
The promo invited people to join Gonia on their tour stops which included Salt Lake City, Utah; Atlanta, Georgia; Portland, Oregon; Denver, Colorado; Columbus, Ohio; and San Francisco, California. “Last year, we gay sashayed across the nation, and celebrated Pride across the nation with hundreds of you,” she said.
The North Face added: “We roar. We heal. We become. Mother Nature guides us to where we need to be – and we dress up to honor her.” The ad was featured on The North Face’s Instagram page.
The ad drew a lot of backlash on social media mainly from conservative people. “In a new ad, with clothing and apparel targeted to adults and kids, clothing company The North Face has a man in drag with a full mustache and mini dress promoting pride and telling viewers to “Come Out.”
This is the new normal. Every company will push this and will accept the conservative backlash until we do something. Bud Light was only the beginning of how bad it’s going to get,” one user wrote.
A second tweeted: “Can anyone explain how the heck this ad helps @thenorthface sell outdoor clothes? They’re screaming at you to not buy their products if this violates your values. Accept their challenge. The North Face is owned by the VF Corporation which also owns Supreme, Vans, and Timberland.”
Impact on brands after “Pride” Marketing
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