Breaking The Mainstream Commercial Barrier

[Guest FourAces]

Just relaxing this evening and thinking about mainstream television commercials. When I was young everybody was all white and culture perfect if you are Hitler.

Then blacks were slowly accepted in mainstream commercials. After a long battle we now see commercials that actually target the black consumers.

Next up Latinos. Same path as blacks ... started off slow now commercials target the Latin culture.

To a lessor extent we can see the same for Asians.

However, not gays. I cannot think of a single commercial that featured a gay character that was also aimed at the gay population on mainstream tv. Our outh culture hass been coming out in huge numbers our celebrities have been coming out in larger numbers than ever. People are accepting gay people without reservation yet not the advertising community.

We have huge spending power, we tend to be loyal to gay friendly establishments, companies... So why leave us out?

Anyone else have thoughts about this?

[Guest Conway]

This is the only one I could think of. Its from 10-12 years ago. Print media is an entirely different story, in my opinion.

[Guest Luv2play]

I understand the reticence of companies to overtly pitch their products and services to gays when they are also trying to sell most of their stuff to straights. Given the hot button nature of gay issues in the US, they don't want to rile the vociferous right wing and religious types. In other countries that are more advanced on the gay issues (lke accepting gay marriage), advertisements I believe are more gay friendly.

We still have a way to go in Canada in the advertising area but I see some progress. An acquaintance of mine who is openly gay and 50ish recently was featured in a national advertising campaign for a major international company with a consumer product recognized around the world. He appeared alone in the ads and he was as natural as he is in person, no suit and tie stuff. Not an overtly gay ad but also not a stereotypical ad featuring a straight couple.

[Guest StuCotts]

I understand the reticence of companies to overtly pitch their products and services to gays when they are also trying to sell most of their stuff to straights. Given the hot button nature of gay issues in the US, they don't want to rile the vociferous right wing and religious types. In other countries that are more advanced on the gay issues (lke accepting gay marriage), advertisements I believe are more gay friendly.

We still have a way to go in Canada in the advertising area but I see some progress. An acquaintance of mine who is openly gay and 50ish recently was featured in a national advertising campaign for a major international company with a consumer product recognized around the world. He appeared alone in the ads and he was as natural as he is in person, no suit and tie stuff. Not an overtly gay ad but also not a stereotypical ad featuring a straight couple.

To be a bit more specific, being voceferously right wing and religious involves hate mail, death threats, threats of boycott, denunciations from the pulpit and from the right-wing media, character assassination and dissemination of slanderous lies, to mention only what I can conjure up on short notice. Too-pointed advertising to gays on the part of mainstream companies is fated to wait a while.