Okay people, I have another entry about vodka. I know, I'm feeling a little buzzed too, but bare with me, it's worth it.
My friends Amanda and Heather sent me this wonderful article The New York Times published yesterday that talks all about Absolut Vodka and their advertising/marketing towards the gay community. This is a must-read to catch you up on the history of their involvement with the LGBT community. But, the most exciting thing about this article is that Absolut will be releasing a new campaign to celebrate their 30 YEARS of advertising/marketing to the LGBT community! Not only that, but we get a first glimpse of an AMAZING print ad from the campaign:
Did your heart explode? No? Did you just glance at it? Okay I'll give you another chance to really look at it. Let's just post it again so you can save your mouse from moving back up...
Ob.Sessed. That's all I'm saying. I mean, just looking at this gives me chills. I think the art direction and what photographer David LaChapelle did is borderline genius. From the subjects photographed (i.e. Amanda Lepore, unicorns, you know, the usual) to the placement of everything, to the all around fabulousness of this (yes, that really is the only word to describe this) it comes together to create one breathtaking image. It's a perfect example of and ad where you can be walking down the street, quickly see it on the side of some phone booth, and just get the feeling their going for instantly. One big ol' gay celebration of living life and having fun, out and proud! And unlike other Absolute ads that just feature the bottle in different settings, this gives you so much to look at while at the same time making you beg for more. Did I mention I like the art direction in this ad?
I really love the copy as well. The "Absolut OUTrageous" line is very similar to other Absolut ads, however the line "Celebrating 30 years of going out and coming out" just is the icing on the cake. Sums up the brands history with the LGBT community, ties the product in, and celebrates this amazing culture we have.
To me, THIS is what I think LGBT ads should be like. It's very obvious that the company took a lot of time and thought to create something very creative, and in turn it shows that they really do care about their LGBT market. I am so excited to see the rest of this campaign, and will fo sho update you all as soon as it's out.
Absolut has pretty much become a staple in this small gay advertising world. They started in 1981, which at that time was thought of as an enormous risk for a mainstream company. But, peeps knew what they were doing, didn't really give a crap what other people thought, and now their LGBT ads are iconic.
If you're unfamiliar with their previous ads, here are a few examples, thanks to Commercial Closet. Fun thing to note: the last TV ad, part of a series of ads featuring RuPaul's Drag Race contestants, was just honored at GLAAD's 2011 Amplifier Awards:
So now that I've gushed about this, what are YOUR feelings? Do you think Absolut is going in the right direction with their new campaign? Are you curious to see what's to come?
Oh my God, HEY WORLD…and welcome to the Ad So Gay! My name is Sean and I will be your host for this journey. I’m really excited to be starting this and bringing you all the latest and greatest in LGBT advertising. Before we talk about the actual purpose of this blog, let me tell you a little story about how this came to be…
This all started with an Orbitz commercial and a delicious double cheeseburger meal at Wendy’s. I was having a classy meal at this fine establishment with one of my friends when I brought up a commercial I saw for Orbitz. It appeared on Logo during a thrilling episode of "RuPaul’s Drag Race," promoting their gay tourism website. Here’s the commercial in question:
For me, it was really the first time I noticed a major cooperation taking money out to advertise to the gay ol’ crowd on a large national scale. Men holding hands? A crazy party/rave/go-go boy convention? On an ORBITZ commercial?! Even though I don’t find this commercial super creative, something about it stuck with me. Being a gay man, the fact that this company took the time and money to spend on advertising towards me and “my people” really made an impact. If for some reason I want to book a trip an unknown island to meet my foreign boo for a mojito in the sun, Orbitz will be #1 in my mind cause of this one commercial that stuck with me.
Now back to the glorious meal of those delicately simmered square, never-frozen beef patties. I was sitting there with my friend telling him about this commercial as we were dipping our fries in our Frosties. We started to talk more about gay advertising and how we don’t really see it very much. That didn’t seem right to me. Why wouldn’t companies market and advertise to the LGBT community? In my opinion, we’re fun, easy going, accepting, hell the gay community sounds like my dream man.
After that, I went home and immediately went to my friend Google to see what I could dig up. What I found shocked me. I found a blog post or an article here and there, but really there was not much on the subject! The only big organization that I found to care and recognize LGBT advertising was Commercial Closet, which is now owned by GLAAD. I encourage everyone to look at the amazing collection that founder Michael Wilke put together though the years. The library consists of many LGBT ads (and will be a great source for this website) and loads of information up until about 2010. Ever since it was bought out by GLAAD (which since started the Media Awards in Advertising, now called the Amplifier Awards) there really isn’t a place anymore where this subject it talked about on a regular basis. And as wonderful GLAAD is and all they have done for the community, they have a lot more topics to discuss and share other than advertising. So, I figured why the hell not, and here I am. Hello! Nice to meet you.
So what do I hope to do with this blog? First, I just wanted a place to house any ad that has to deal with the LGBT community. Good, bad, creative, offensive, inspirational, bring it on. The more we talk about these issues, the more we can learn about what it takes to create a truly great LGBT ad.
Second (and this is where you come in, so get excited) there are a lot of different topics and issues that go with LGBT commercials, and with them come a lot of opinions and thoughts. I think all opinions matter and I hope that these posts will start up conversations, either with comments on here or your family dinner table, lets get talking people!
Also, SUBMIT SUBMIT SUBMIT any ads you see! Whether it’s a TV ad, something in a magazine, a window display, online banner, local ads, a logo painted on a guys abs during Pride, send it my way by emailing me at adsogay@gmail.com! I want to get as many ads on here as I can, and mama don’t have access to every ad known to man, so your help is greatly appreciated!
Okay, here we go. Let’s get started!!
PS: My grammar sucks…I know. I’m not apologizing for it, just stating the facts people.
