Mastercard announced it’s celebrating the LGBTQIA+ Pride month by extending its Priceless experiences into the metaverse. It’s sponsoring the Decentraland LGBTQIA+ Pride Parade and launching the Mastercard Pride Plaza.
“With the creation of Mastercard Pride Plaza in the metaverse, we created a space on the Web3 with global access to celebrate inclusion and diversity at its best,” said Roberto Ramírez Laverde, SVP of marketing and communication for Mastercard Latin America and the Caribbean. “That is why we are proud to be able to collaborate in this event where members of the community LGBTQIA+ will be able to join from anywhere in the world, and participate in this priceless experience.”
Within Decentraland, the card company will run conferences with LGBTQIA+ opinion leaders, host musical shows and offer a Brazilian Carnival-style float where attendees can take selfies.
Visitors will be able to buy limited edition avatar accessories as NFTs, with the designers including Mexican art collective Rainbow Lobster and queer visual artist Orly Anan.
Two beauty brands have also launched NFTs to celebrate Pride, with Givenchy launching Pride-themed NFTs and L’Oreal-owned NYX makeup joining The Sandbox metaverse. As part of its brand integration, NYX is helping create avatars with more diverse features and offering a variety of makeup looks.
Last week Mastercard announced that it was integrating its card offering with seven non-fungible token (NFT) marketplaces, including The Sandbox metaverse.
Dozens of major brands are embracing the metaverse, with Mastercard just the latest in financial services. Others to have set up shop in web3 3D include JP Morgan, Caixabank and Fidelity Investments in Decentraland. And HSBC, Siam Commercial Bank’s SCB 10X, and Standard Chartered in The Sandbox.
