Online retail giant Amazon was out in force at the Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras over the weekend to show its support for diversity and inclusion.

A major sponsor of the event, the e-commerce company had a float and live activation in the village with the theme: Unbox the Love, a celebration of sharing your true self with the world.

But Amazon wasn’t the only retailer flying the rainbow flag over the weekend. Myer was also a major sponsor of Mardi Gras for the third year in a row as part of its exclusive agreement with the festival, and several other businesses and brands in the industry launched special campaigns and activations in February. Here are just a few examples.

Here are just a few examples.

Amazon

Beyond the parade participation, Amazon said it actively supports LGBTQI+ inclusion in the workplace.

An affinity group known as glamazon was established 20 years ago to support employees and the group has played a key role in the creation of the Transgender Toolkit, which equips managers and employees with the skills and information they need to respond to and support a gender transition in the workplace.

The celebrations extended to some of Amazon’s best known products. Voice technology Alexa got a Mardi Gras makeover to ensure she can answer a wide range of Mardi Gras themed questions and the retailer also released Mardi Gras themed Echo Dots.

Bonds

Bonds’ Out Now campaign shines a light on the journeys of those in the LGBTQI+ community, whether they’ve been “out” for six months or 55 years.

The campaign includes a video series featuring everyday Australians from the queer community, as well as an exhibition in partnership with youth organisation Minus 18, which showcases high-profile LGBTQI+ personalities, including singer Mojo Juju, musician Montaigne and comedian Rhys Nicholson

Honey Birdette

Lingerie retailer Honey Birdette unveiled its Fluid ad campaign, featuring naked gay and lesbian couples embracing each other.

According to managing director Eloise Monaghan, the point of the campaign was to highlight the inequality between how queer and heterosexual couples are featured in advertising, as well as male and female nipples.

“We certainly will cause a stir, but I still don’t see the difference between a female and male nippe,” she said in a statement.

Monaghan and her wife both posed in the photo shoot.

Levi’s

Iconic denim brand Levi’s created a pop-up art installation called the Pride Phone Booth at Melbourne Central, where visitors were invited to leave voicemail messages of love and encouragement for their LGBTQI+ friends and loved ones.

Those recordings were then turned into a playlist and featured on Levi’s Australia Pride 2020 SoundCloud to remind people of how much they are valued by others in the wider community. The phone booth is part of Levi’s wider campaign, ‘Use your Voice’.

Shopping centres

The heritage-listed Queen Victoria Building in Sydney showed its support for the LGBTQI+ community by flying rainbow flags from 18 flagpoles on its roof in the lead-up to Mardi Gras. It also hosted a Mardi Gras celebration at the Reign Champagne Bar within the QVB, offering dessert and cocktail specials and a DJ.

Broadway Sydney hosted a range of free events in the lead-up to the parade, including stand-up comedy, live music, skits, drag shows and discounts and special offers from various retailers.

Broadway Sydney is owned by Mirvac, which is part of ACON’s Welcome Here project, an initiative to create more inclusive spaces for Australians.

As part of the project, stores in Mirvac centres are invited to put ‘Welcome Here’ stickers on their windows, so people know they are entering a safe space. ACON is also offering training programs to Mirvac’s internal teams on how to promote diversity for their customer base.

Reporting by Ruth Hogan and Jo-Anne Hui-Miller.