Why is still so shockg to see gay people mastream ads? At a time when every other mographic is practilly shoehorned to marketg for the sake of diversy, gays and lbians are still all but visible the TV advertisg landspe. But while you might not have seen many yourself, gay-themed TV ads are fely out there. To close out Gay Pri Month, we tracked down 50 of them om around the world and anized them to seven tegori that seem to keep poppg up ("Lbians Are Hot," "Don't Tell Mom," etc.). Check out the llectn after the jump.
Contents:
- IS GAY WDOW ADVERTISG OUT OF THE CLOSET?
- MASCULY AND GAY-FRIENDLY ADVERTISG: A COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS BETWEEN THE ITALIAN AND US MARKET
- THE 50 GAYT ADS EVER
IS GAY WDOW ADVERTISG OUT OF THE CLOSET?
In this chapter, we look at the reprentatns of masculy gay-iendly prted adverts and mercials, focg on the tensns between marketg and soc-polil disurs that occur wh them. We also offer a parative perspective between... * gay window advertising examples *
To be hont, puttg gay male sex workers the red light district wdows is exactly the kd of equaly that we are lookg for we are lookg for the days; te visibily. But, the particular men puttg themselv on display De Wallen are standg there as a part of a mpaign put on by My Red Light, a nonprof brothel that works to improve ndns for sex workers and HUNQZ, "the largt work for gay and bi male and trans pannship servic worldwi.
"As a gay man livg Amsterdam, I often walk through the red light on the way home and wonr how different would be if there were men the wdows too, " Jens Schmidt, founr of HUNQZ, said a statement. For those of you who don't know what this means Kathere Senr scrib the text Genr, Race, and Class Media as advertisements "where imag are d wh subtexts which are tend to be unrstood by lbian, gay, and bisexual rears as 'lbian' and/or 'gay' and/or 'bisexual' texts, but which are assumed to rema nocuo to heterosexual rears.
MASCULY AND GAY-FRIENDLY ADVERTISG: A COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS BETWEEN THE ITALIAN AND US MARKET
Through "gay wdow advertisg" is ma possible for the gay, lbian, and bisexual muny to feel reprented the advertisement and ma to feel like the product is ma for them as well. This is a more obv example of an image geared towards the gay, lbian, or bisexual, mercial is also an example, however, that supports an argument sayg that "gay wdow advertisg" perpetuat homosexual stereotyp and prents role mols for gay, lbian, and bisexual nsumers that are not realistic and are simply there bee they appeal to mastream. And wh a newly targeted group of nsumers like the gay, lbian, and bisexual muny n be hoped, but not be expected to be so wily exampl of ways both heterosexual and homosexual ials and stereotyp are equally perpetuated are through magaze and billboard ads.
Male mols ads for Abercrombie or Calv Kle have been ed to appeal to both gay men and heterosexual women by prentg the stereotypil hyper-mascule, half-naked man.
Sce this is the se, at this pot, "gay wdow advertisg" seems to be the only way marketers n advertise to both heterosexual and homosexual nsumers whout the possible alienatn of a certa group. Some people are so homophobic that a product advertisg blatant lbian, gay, or bisexual imag or liftyl would anger that person so much they may cease to purchase or support that product or pany.
THE 50 GAYT ADS EVER
I n unrstand that the gay, lbian, and bisexual muny may feel that "gay wdow advertisg" is only perpetuatg the ia that their liftyl are offensive and should be hidn, but I believe that is the wrong way to thk about this new marketg tool. While I wish that people were not so close-md and judgemental and that mercials uld portray certa imag or them more openly, I believe "gay wdow advertisg" is still a step the right directn. The ncept of g below the radar language and symbols targetg specifilly queer nsumers was referred to as gay wdow the ntrary, Ikea took the road ls travelled.