GEOFF BENNETT: June is Pride Month, a time when many companies show their support for in celebration of the LGBTQ+ community by launching Pride Month campaigns, displaying pride merchandise, and including LGBTQ+ people in ads and marketing.

But, this year, after weeks of political attacks, right-wing backlash has forced some companies to rethink Pride.

William Brangham has more.

WILLIAM BRANGHAM: Geoff, some protesters have started calling out dozens of companies over their Pride campaigns.

In just the last few months, companies like Bud Light, Target, PetSmart, Nike, The North Face and Adidas have all faced right-wing protests over LGBTQ+ products and ads and partnerships.

Activists have taken their criticism to social media and spread false information over Pride products targeting kids, like these at Target.

WOMAN: So, we are like 10 steps in before there is an entire Pride display for your children to see.

WOMAN: We have "Glad you came out" and "I'm so happy that you're queer" in the kids section.

Are you kidding me?

MAN: Hey, ma'am, do you support this?

MAN: What did I just say?

MAN: You support Pride propaganda?

WOMAN: Please... (CROSSTALK) MAN: Whoa.

I'm buying this.

Whoa.

Let go.

WOMAN: We need you to -- you just said you're not buying it.

MAN: I'm going to buy it and burn it.

WILLIAM BRANGHAM: Boycotts, employee harassment and threats of violence have prompted companies, including Target, to pull back some Pride initiatives.

For more on this backlash, we're joined by Bob Witeck.

He is president of Witeck Communications, which is a firm specializing in LGBTQ+ marketing.

Bob, thank you so much for being here.

I know you have been in this business of consulting companies for 30 years.

Would you say that there is a demonstrable uptick in these types of protests happening towards companies right now?

BOB WITECK, President, Witeck Communications: I'd say two things.

One, we are in a moment.

But the backlash that we're witnessing is hardly spontaneous or authentic or organic.

It's primarily instigated backlash.

The feigned indignation, for example, against one beer was a calculated tactic.

And it was used by anti-woke provocateurs, frankly, who had political agendas.

I think Budweiser tripped a wire that offered some an invitation to exploit.

WILLIAM BRANGHAM: And is it your sense that this is -- again, I know you're arguing that this is a ginned-up and nonorganic movement.

But you were telling us before that this has been going on in some fashion for many, many years.

BOB WITECK: About 30 years ago, when I began doing the work I do, I worked with American Airlines, and, 30 years ago, they faced an onslaught of right-wing backlash that, at the time, I believe was intended to change the direction of the culture.

What they witnessed was, if a corporation got behind the gay community, others would follow.

They wanted to shame and frighten American Airlines out of the market, and they failed.

WILLIAM BRANGHAM: I know you're not a social scientist, but if you believe that this is not an organic movement, what do you attribute all these attacks to?

BOB WITECK: Well, I think the political moment tells us that we're in a -- the United States is driven by division, and the so-called anti-woke activists are trying to find every wedge possible.

And they're wielding them in the hands of candidates to use it to attack drag shows, to attack books in schools, to attack trans kids.

And they're taking on a variety of exploitable topics that do divide the American households.

WILLIAM BRANGHAM: You mentioned this protest against Budweiser.

And that was because Budweiser had done this partnership with a trans woman.

And that protest that came up seemed to dent Budweiser's sales.

Did you hear from other companies who said, boy, looking at Budweiser's experience, we don't want to have that same thing happened to us?

BOB WITECK: It did give other companies pause.

But they need to examine the case that Bud Light took.

The brand sales already were slipping.

And they made a miscalculation, I think, to try to expand consumer loyalty.

And their timing -- and, worse, it was their response that seemed most amateurish.

No brand or corporation would want to be in Bud Light's shoes when they offended almost everyone.

That was the problem, I think, that corporate reputation.

It's not so much about sales, which are always going to be somewhat volatile.

It's about standing and reputation.

WILLIAM BRANGHAM: In that particular case, that was a protest against Bud Light's connection to a trans individual.

And trans people do seem to be the target of a particular level of ire.

Have you -- have you seen that similarly?

BOB WITECK: Yes.

Unfortunately, yes.

What it speaks to is the dehumanizing of a whole group of people.

The LGBTQ community is not alien to this.

We have -- we have felt it over many, many years.

But trans people, particularly, are being put into a position to be so dehumanized that it's frightening, and many families and trans people, justifiably, are afraid.

WILLIAM BRANGHAM: So when you're counseling companies, and they come to you, and they say we would like to appeal to this part of America, how -- but we don't want to suffer one of these boycotts.

How do you counsel them how to navigate that?

BOB WITECK: There are three things they often think about in the beginning.

First, what is it you stand for?

What are your values?

What are your principles?

And if you know what those are, and you stick to them, you can weather almost any setback or any challenge.

But, also, you have to invest your campaigns in those values.

When you show images and expressions of LGBTQ people, do it honestly, do it authentically, and do it for a purpose.

And, finally, when you are challenged, stand up, because I think, at the end of the day, you will discover that the marketplace will imbue you with more trust and more integrity for the future.

The storms come and go, but your standing is going to be what you're going to be tested by.

WILLIAM BRANGHAM: I understand that there has also been some criticism of corporate America from within the LGBTQ+ community, parts of it, that they have been cowardly or not standing up enough or not doing enough.

How serious is that criticism?

BOB WITECK: I think that is a sense of unity.

What the community leaders want to do is embolden and stiffen the spines of corporate America, who are traditional allies and partners in the gay community.

They have been with us and on our side, I think, for decades.

What they want to do is make sure they understand that fair-weather friends are no friends.

WILLIAM BRANGHAM: All right, Bob Witeck of Witeck Communications, thank you so much for being here.

BOB WITECK: Thank you.