"Roll"-in With The Homies...

Sean's Top List of Why He Loves The End Of The Year/Start Of The New Year

-It's (kinda) winter, which means layering, which means multiple outfit options.

-In those outfits, I get to break out my $8 Target flannel button-ups.

-Being able to put 30 pounds of blankets, plus my heated mattress pad on high when I dream sweet dreams. 

-The smell of cinnamon for some reason intensifies and just smells like magic and hope.

But one of my favorite things around this time of the year are all the lists of "Top ____ of 20__" that everyone comes out with. They're like mini scrapbooks about extremely specific subjects that make you look back and say, "Ah, 2011, remember when the baby names Emma and Mason were just SOOOOOOO hot?"

As I was looking though these lists, I found one that really caught my eye and I needed to share. The Advertising Standards Bureau listed the 10 most complained ads in Australia in 2011. Below are some print ads in the list, along with how many complaints they received. Let's take a look, shall we?

I mean...wow. There it is people, the most complained about ad in Australia isn't a woman in front of the word "Sex" with some strategically placed duct tape, and it's not three women eager to use their tools in a ménage à trois (or would it be a foursome? Is the person reading the ad included? Oh, the mysteries in life). Nope, by a landslide, the most complained ad is of two men, fully clothed, hugging, and one is holding a condom cause protection is the bees knees.

Now, I remember my Aussie mate Matthew telling me about this "Rip and Roll" ad a while back, and it just shocked me that people were so offended by it. Apparently, it was the whole uproar was started by The Australian Christian Lobby (surprise, surprise) and all 45 bus posters were taken down by Adshel, the company that owns the ad spaces. Check out the video below (note: this was before the complaints were dismissed and ads were put back up):

I mean, how is this offensive? If anything, it's an extremely positive ad promoting safe sex. This is just a perfect example of how some people can be so ignorant and go right for the "TWO GAY GUYS AHHHHHHHHHHH!" complaint, vs seeing the ad for what it's promoting. But the fact that the number of complaints the print version has is almost three times...yes...THREE TIMES the about of complaints the second most complained ad has, now that's just utterly ridiculous. 

But "halleloo" for the Advertising Standards Bureau, who dismissed the complaints and released this statement:

"The Advertising Standards Board dismissed complaints about the ad as it was strongly in favour of the important health message the advertisement portrays... It considered that while some members of the community would prefer not to see this issue advertised, the public health message overrides any social sensitivity." 

Ridiculous...absurd...but good for the Advertising Standards Bureau for sticking to their guns and seeing the ad as a positive message. Once again, let's hope that people will be able to get past their "Gay people are bad" filter and accept that we're here...and not going anywhere.

And that's the end of that.  Now if you excuse me, I have cinnamon candle fumes to enjoy... 

MORE Interpretation of Putting A Ring On It

Like Cabbage Patch Kids or eight ball pog slammers, I found a trend for y'all...

If you recall, I posted a few weeks ago about local Kansas jewelry store Tevol releasing a billboard that featured two men, one with his arm around the other, looking at some wedding bands. Just to recap, I was a tad bit annoyed with the fact they said the ad was open to interpretation and not coming out (no pun intended...JK LOL BFF it totally is) saying if it was or wasn't meant to be a gay couple.

Well, mamma's got ANOTHER local jewelry store that put out an ad featuring two women, and this time they flat out saying, "Why yes! It IS a lesbian couple! And?" Check out the picture of the couple below and head over to CBS Baltimore to watch the news story:

This time, it's local Baltimore jewelry store Charles Nusinov and Sons that ran an ad in various local newspapers with the headline "Let's Grow Old Together" featuring various couples, including lesbians! Vice President Sydney Nusinov stated his reasonings for including a lesbian couple: "I think same-sex couples just want the same American dream that straight couples want...From a business standpoint, I think it would help us to have a whole new subsection of customers getting married." Preach gurl...eh...man. He even says they're getting positive responses for the ad, and when the TV crew showed it to random people, all of them were not bothered by it at all. Now, not to say everyone feels that way, but it's great to see these people not really worry about how they're advertising to the LGBT community. 

Now, I've always thought local companies have a such an advantage/risk with advertising to the LGBT community. They have the a bit more freedom with their advertisements and the content they include, which is a plus, but also it's a bit more "risky" because the clientele is much smaller. So if a large part of the community doesn't like the fact they included LGBT figures in their ads, it could have a negative effect on them, which is horrible. I commend Charles Nusinov and Sons for doing this ad and standing behind the content. Even though gay marriage isn't legal in Maryland (yet) they still chose to tastefully support the community while opening up to a new type of clientele for their business. It's a great example for other companies looking to do ads like these that it CAN work and it CAN help the business. I mean, if more business' could think this way a) I'd have a lot more content for your viewing pleasure and b) it could help open people's minds to the subject and get us closer to the equal rights we deserve. 

Props to my sista from the SAME mista Elizabeth for sending me this!