Pink Money - in The United Kingdom

In The United Kingdom

Known as the pink pound in the United Kingdom (occasionally, the similarly termed "blue pound" is used specifically for lesbians), the British gay market is estimated to be worth up to £6 billion a year.

The Pink Pound is often considered to be responsible for the high sales of specific products seen to be favored by a large number of gay people, most noticeably music sales of records by gay icons such as Madonna, Lady Gaga, Kylie Minogue and Cher. A range of large corporations have recently realised the power of the Pink Pound and have begun to directly market their products towards the gay community through advertising in the gay press. In June 2006 a specialized marketing conference called the Pink Pound Conference was held in London and a similar conference was held in November 2006 by the Market Research Society.

Groups and organizations concerned with the ghettoisation, conformity, and commercialism of the pink pound include OutRage!, the NUS LGBT Campaign and the Queer Youth Alliance — paralleling the more general criticisms of pink money.

A large market of goods and services for gay people has appeared in recent years, including gay wedding services, gay press including radio and television, and domestic services such as builders and plumbers. In 2001 several gay companies produced pink stickers and stuck them onto thousands of Pound Coins which are still in circulation.