McDonald's doubles down on inclusivity with multichannel Pride push

Dive Brief:

McDonald's is launching a multichannel campaign in support of the LGBTQ community, per an announcement shared with Marketing Dive. Titled "Livin' It," the effort through Pride month (June) will include digital video ads, a virtual party and media sponsorships.
In addition to featuring digital creative and a billboard in Times Square, Livin' It will host a daylong virtual celebration called House of Pride, which will air on Revry, an LGBTQ TV network, and include celebrity appearances, musical performances, a tutorial on vogue dancing and a virtual reality T-Dance, a tradition in the LGBTQ community that dates back to the 1960s.
McDonald's will also provide media sponsorships for Out Magazine's Out100 series, which highlights the year's most influential members of the LGBTQ community. Together, these efforts see the fast-food chain doubling down on inclusivity by expanding its investment in diverse media.

Dive Insight:

On the heels of an ambitious pledge to double its ad spend on "diverse-owned" media, McDonald's is launching a new commitment to the LGBTQ community in celebration of Pride month. The campaign will attempt to reach this cohort by activating on media channels popular within the community. Revry is an emerging streaming network that emphasizes queer content and creators, and McDonald's will take over its airwaves with House of Pride, a daylong virtual celebration featuring performances and interactive events. The move is reminiscent of other brands that have targeted specific demographics by appearing on the platforms on which they spend significant time, including Twitch for the gaming community and TikTok for Gen Zers.

McDonald's is also providing media sponsorships with Out Magazine's Out100 series. The magazine has the highest circulation of any LGBTQ magazine in the U.S. and offers access to its parent company Pride Media, which has over 6.3 million monthly unique listeners. McDonald's will attempt to amplify its support across this network, per the announcement, and will supplement its reach with digital billboard placements in Times Square.

The Livin' It campaign is McDonald's latest move to invest more of its ad spend in diverse media. Before its pledge last month, the chain was spending 4% of its national advertising budget on Black-, Hispanic-, Asian Pacific American-, women- and LGBTQ-owned platforms, a number it says it will increase to 10% by 2024. Another key part of the pledge is the chain's commitment to new partnerships with diverse media partners, which could mean future tie-ups between McDonald's and Revry or Out Magazine, despite Pride month ending in June.

Other brands have recently launched initiatives toward ramping up diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) efforts as more consumers tire of empty promises. Alcohol giant Diageo announced a standalone business aimed at growing diverse representation in the beverage industry. Vizzy kicked off a project emphasizing LGBTQ visibility in the arts for Pride month and H&M developed a scanner app that enables LGBTQIA+ storytelling.

While McDonald's is keeping pace with these diversity initiatives, controversies alleging discrimination continue to plague its business. The chain is facing multiple lawsuits that describe a pattern of racial stereotyping, including a $10 billion suit filed recently by Byron Allen's Allen Media Group.