#NYC GAY PRIDE WEEK 2014 FULL#
RECOMMENDED: Full coverage of the Pride parade in NYCĮach year, March producer Heritage of Pride names notable LGBT folks (or their allies) as grand marshals.
People who act too cynical to enjoy it are either lying, or joyless. Pride Weekend's big event is part civil-rights march, part party and all exciting. The Proud Whoppers, which went on sale June 28, will be available at the San Francisco location throughout San Francisco Pride week.New York City's LGBT Pride March (which commemorates the 1969 Stonewall riots) is one of New York City's largest annual events-and the largest Pride parade in the world.Millions of spectators line Fifth Avenue to watch more than 300 marching groups and 50 colorful floats make their way over the lavender line painted down the middle of the street. “We really want to be more than burgers, fries and shakes,” he says, “and occupy a space that’s more meaningful to people.” “We were much more concerned to do what was right for our brand.”īurger King scrapped their 40-year-old food-centric slogan “Have It Your Way” in May, replacing it with the people-centric “Be Your Way.” Machado says it’s all about making a connection with customers. “Frankly we were not concerned about benchmarking ourselves compared to other brands,” he says. Machado says this effort isn’t designed to be a contrast. In the fast food world, the Proud Whopper campaign puts Burger King in stark contrast to Chick-fil-A, which is still trying to move past anti-same-sex marriage comments made by CEO Dan Cathy, prompting gay couples to stage “kiss-in” protests in 2012.
“We just hope that people will understand that the message is a beautiful one.” “As with anything in life, there will be people who will like it, there will people who will dislike it,” he says. Machado says that he knows their clear signal of support for the LGBT community isn’t going to float everyone’s boat. One, hilariously, questions whether “gay people even eat fast food.”īurger King also sponsored pride parades in New York and San Francisco, both of which took place this past weekend, and the company gave out about 70,000 rainbow-colored paper crowns. In a rough cut of the reaction video, one bystander says, “Well, if that’s what they’re gonna do, they won’t be having my business anymore.” Others smile, some cry out of solidarity, many express their support. “We felt that could bring to life a message of equality, self-expression, authenticity and just being who you are.”Įven in the liberal bastion that is the City by the Bay, not all the responses were positive. (This post will be updated to include the video once it is available.) “As a brand, we welcome everyone,” Machado tells TIME.
Fernando Machado, a senior vice president of global branding, led the effort, which included on-the-spot filming of customers’ reactions outside the location at Market and 8th Streets. The campaign was conceived just a few months ago as a way for Burger King to bring the company’s new “Be Your Way” tagline to life.