Diesel lost 14k followers on Instagram for supporting Pride Month

Just a few weeks ago, at the beginning of Pride Month, we wondered which brands on the wave of advertising campaigns and promotional videos created specifically for the event were taking advantage of the opportunity to make money and how many, instead, actually supported the queer culture and the LGBTQ+ community.

Even if we never would naively imagine it, the question we should have asked is: can the support of a company for equality and love damage it? Apparently, yes. It happened to Diesel. Renzo Rosso's brand has lost 14,000 followers after publishing on Instagram a series of images of heterosexual and homosexual couples wearing the rainbow logo garments of their Pride capsule collection, portrayed in attitudes that are anything but scandalous. To be scandalous are the many homophobic, bigoted and offensive comments written by the followers who shortly after abandoned the profile. 

Diesel's reaction to this massive exodus is a resounding slap in the face of ignorance. The label celebrates the farewell of those who do not share the rainbow values of love, respect, equality and inclusion of which the brand has become the spokesman, publishing the image taken from one of the many events of Pride Month with the words Thank You!, accompanied by this caption: 

We’ve taken pride in our beliefs for 40+ years & we believe in #pride. For those who don’t, including the 14.000 followers who’ve left us in the last week.... bye bye! To those who share our beliefs and values, let’s celebrate the fact that #loveislove. Always.

A spokesman for Diesel then confirmed:

Diesel has always been a supporter of the community. And even if we like to think that our Instagram community shares the same values, after one week and a lot of surprising homophobic comments, we discovered we lost 14,000 followers because of our content that covered the history of the LGBTQ+ and showed the brand’s support. While other brands would see this as a reason to worry, Diesel decided to celebrate the followers’ departure. Because followers are important. But love is more important.