Skittles to Ditch the Rainbow to Celebrate LGBTQ Community During Pride Month

The packaging will be devoid of any color.

The skittles themselves will also be white, though they will have the varied fruit flavors of traditional skittles.

This is the first time that the colorless candies will be sold in the United States, though they have been sold overseas for previous Pride months.

CNN has more details on Skittles colorless campaign:

The candy that's known for its iconic rainbow is ditching their colorful symbol for Pride Month to celebrate and support the LGBTQ+ community.

Skittles are going colorless with both their packaging and their product for all of June, saying "only #OneRainbow matters."

Gray limited-edition "Pride Pack" candy bags will hit the shelves of CVS and select Walmart stores next week until the end of June.

What about the flavors? Not to fear. Even though you won't be able to see the rainbow colored candies, you'll still get to taste the rainbow with the same original fruity Skittles flavors.

This isn't the first time the gray candies are being sold in stores. The brand released these packs in Canada, Germany, and the United Kingdom in previous years.

For the US launch, the brand partnered with LGBTQ+ advocacy group GLAAD, and for every pack of gray skittles sold $1 will be donated to the group up to $100,000.

This isn't the first time a brand has partnered with GLAAD in this way. 

Last year, Bud Light sold rainbow-colored aluminum bottles in bars nationwide and donated $1 from each case sold.

"This Pride month, Skittles is removing its rainbow, but replacing it with much-needed conversations about the LGBTQ+ community and a visible stand of solidarity," GLAAD President and CEO Sarah Kate Ellis said in a release.

Ironically, while Skittles intended to celebrate the LGBTQ community, many members were upset that the brand decided to go "white."

Some social media users accused Skittles of "whitewashing" itself.

This news comes as parades and pride celebrations across the nation have been cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

An estimated 400 pride parades have been postponed or altogether canceled for the year.

According to The Hill:

Last June, the streets of New York City were filled with more than 2.5 million people from far and wide to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the history-making Stonewall Riots — the rebellious protest of an anti-gay police raid that catalyzed a movement. Despite the riots symbolizing a contentious piece of US history and the fact that LGBTQ+ rights are still seemingly hanging in the balance, the community and their allies took the time that month to celebrate the progress that’s been made over the last several decades.

This year will look much different for a number of reasons, as LGBTQ+ Pride parades across the world have been either cancelled or postponed as a result of the coronavirus pandemic. Even as certain states have started loosening restrictions on social interaction and businesses start to reopen, large gatherings of any kind have continued to be cancelled through the summer.

Late last month, New York City joined other major cities such as Seattle and Los Angeles when mayor Bill de Blasio announced that the June 28 WorldPride parade and Pride Month events are officially postponed. It was followed by a cancellation announcement by Heritage of Pride organizers — the first in Pride’s 50-year history.

San Francisco, another city known for its proud LGBTQ+ community, was also forced to cancel the city’s parade and celebration, which occurs through June. “Uncertainty surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic has intensified in recent weeks, and the organization has concluded that the risks to public health of a large-scale gathering such as Pride preclude this year’s production of the annual event,” city officials announced in a public statement, also marking the first time the city's parade has been called off.

California Gov. Gavin Newsom said mass gatherings likely won't be safe until a vaccine to prevent COVID-19 is approved — which may not happen for more than a year, also putting into question how planned festivals and celebrations will proceed later this year and next.

It will likely be a while until mass gatherings are permitted or heavily attended like they were prior to COVID-19.

A few pride celebrations will happen online for digital drag shows, performances, and speeches.

However, online viewership will likely be just a fraction of the numbers that would have attended in-person.