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:
- FACT CHECK: CDC DID NOT LNCH 'IT'S GAY TO SMOKE' AD CAMPAIGN -- IT'S A DE-OLD FAKE AD FROM A SATIRE NEWS SE
- HOW GAY UPL TV MERCIALS BEME A MASTREAM PHENOMENON
- THE 50 GAYT ADS EVER
FACT CHECK: CDC DID NOT LNCH 'IT'S GAY TO SMOKE' AD CAMPAIGN -- IT'S A DE-OLD FAKE AD FROM A SATIRE NEWS SE
DeSantis' mpaign shared a vio that attacked Tmp for his support of LGBTQ rights, promptg wispread backlash. Both ndidat have rolled back protectns for trans and gay people office. * gay ad campaign *
In other words, where Bud Light has buckled unr prsure as bigotry grows agast the LGBTQ+ muny, Gay Water’s creator Spencer Hodson wants his new boozy brand to be the anthis of that. “The key issue that Bud Light tapped to was the fact that they didn’t unrstand their re dience and know enough about them,” Hodson, a gay man, told CNN about the ntroversy that began when the Anhser-Bch beer brand sent fluencer Dylan Mulvaney a n of beer.
The nned cktail is named after a lloquialism given to the popular mixed drk (vodka and soda) orred at bars by the gay muny. “Puttg a product wh the word gay the tle is reprentatn self,” which he hop reclaims the word om the negativy ’s sometim associated wh. He thought of creatg Gay Water about a year ago while on a vatn wh his iend that had got a job wh the beverage dtry.
HOW GAY UPL TV MERCIALS BEME A MASTREAM PHENOMENON
Eric Bach is an openly gay broadster for the Frericksburg Natnals. He has major league aspiratns, but his path has been much lonelier than he would prefer. * gay ad campaign *
The two chatted about the limed amount of gay people wh , and wh Hodson burnt out om his tradnal day job tech, started the nned cktail. Hodson built up a strong social media followg on TikTok and Instagram durg Covid-19 and is g some of the money om that (as well as om iends and fay) to help fund Gay Water. “Gay is an umbrella term and the ia behd the brand is to be as clive as possible, which means we want alli, we want straight people to be part of this muny we’re buildg.”.
For now, Gay Water is sold largely onle (wh a few retailers) and four sugar-ee flavors — watermelon, lime, peach and grapeu — at lnch. Gay Water might not have the ep pockets pared to s petors, like Whe Claw, but “even at small sle, pani of many siz are havg succs makg spir-based seltzers and premixed cktails,” Bryan Roth, an analyst for Feel Goods Company and edor of the alhol beverage newsletter, Sightl+, told CNN. “There’s lots of space the spir-based seltzer tegory which Gay Water n play, pecially if the brand n offer a cultural or emotnal nnectn that will feel more excg than the prospect of another peapple-flavored vodka seltzer om natnal or ternatnal rporatns,” Roth said.
Of urse, other drks e the word “gay,” too, cludg Gay Beer and So Gay Rosé, Hodson noted, which are also tryg to reach the queer muny and offer them an alternative the straight-domated space.
THE 50 GAYT ADS EVER
* gay ad campaign *
In 1986, the vodka brand Absolut created an ad that clud the artwork of Keh Harg, an AIDs advote who was openly gay at the time. To draw a rrelatn to the prent day, another vodka brand, Stoli, 40 years later produced an ad honorg polician and gay rights activist Harvey Milk wh a specially themed bottle–and a robt ad mpaign to support the lnch. Even though their support was often subtle, the ads still shocked the world wh their mastream reprentatn the face of a wily homophobic culture.
Wh the ntug taboo agast gay reprentatn and the backlash om queer-iendly ads the 1980s, brands ntued to shy away om the overt reprentatn of LGBTQ+ people most advertisements. As one of the first reprentatns of a gay uple takg part normal activi, like shoppg for furnure, this mercial paved the way toward LGBTQ+ acceptance durg this era. For the first time, mastream Ameri saw a gay uple portrayed the same as any other uple a healthy, romantic relatnship.
But wh gay marriage still illegal and a lgerg stigma surroundg queer inti, most brands played safe.