Happy Pride and Fresh Breath!

Today is the 50^th anniversary of the Stonewall uprising in New York City. If you are unfamiliar, it was a series of riots and protests by the LQBT community against the police raid of the Stonewall Inn, a LGBTQ bar in NYC. I’m not as well versed as one should be to tell the story, but go ahead and look it up if you are interested. It gave birth to a civil rights movement that continues today with June being Pride Month. This year’s WorldPride is taking place this weekend in NYC, with millions set to descend upon the city.

50 years. We have come a long way…..but there is still so much farther to go. There are people in power today who want to roll back basic civil rights, including marriage, for LGBTQ people for no other reason than they believe that is the way it should be. And I hate to break it to you, but the rest of us are not here for that bullshit---and to prove it, I present to you….

LISTERINE.

Yes, the mouthwash.

I know. I get it, I really do. The plastering of rainbows everywhere in June by marketers is a crass ploy to get your money. Or freshen your breath as the case may be.

But that isn’t all there is to it for me.  It also speaks to hope. Because I can remember a time when there wasn’t a brand within a million miles of this planet that would touch Pride with a 10 foot pole. So what does it mean that ALL of them will now?

It means that somewhere in the bowels of the Listerine HQ there is a bean counter, or maybe a whole team of them, that have decided there is more money to be made doing this than there is to be lost. Because make no mistake, there is some bass-ackwards jackass out there right now screeching about how they will “NEVER freshen their breath with Listerine again!” There are loads of them actually. So many that in years past, marketers and brands didn’t dare recognize Pride for fear of the backlash. But now…….?

Now there are more of us than there are of them. Enough more that it’s worth it for every stupid marketing team from Burger King all the way to Target to get in on the game.

Do I wish they would do something meaningful with the money they are hoping to make? Of course. Does this mean we are where we should be after 50 years? Hell no.

But it means something to the kid who hasn’t come out to his family yet to see the support everywhere. You and I know how capitalistic it is, but to him or her or them, it might make the difference between feeling scared and alone OR feeling part of something more. Corporations are not people, despite what you might have been told. They have no souls and no consciences. They use our emotions to make money, plain and simple. Always have and always will. But if by accident while they are doing that they manage to help put something front and center that so many would like to shove back in the closet….let them!

We can expect more from them, for sure. But this weekend, let’s just freshen our breath with rainbow Listerine, eat at TGIPrideDays and show the world that the LGBTQ community is here to stay thanks, and will settle for nothing less than total equality.