Homosexuality in Fashion Advertising Campaigns

[testinofan]

Versace Jeans 1994 PH:Bruce Weber

commercialcloset

 

[twin star]

an interesting article from TIME

​

AD BREAK: Dolce & Gabbana is among companies who have gay themes

A New Ad Adage: Same Sex Sells

European advertisers are coming out of the closet with campaigns that
appeal to gay consumers

BY ADAM SMITH | LONDON

A ruggedly handsome man emerges from under the hood of a car, rubbing his grimy hands on white cloth. Leaning against the dark sedan, another man, young and athletic looking, gifts the mechanic a neat new watch. His reward? The man leans in and the two share a kiss. Some kind of underground gay romantic comedy? No, it's a recent TV commercial for Italian designers Dolce & Gabbana, and
it's part of a growing trend in European advertising toward ad campaigns that better represent consumers' diversity. And if those consumers are gay, so much the better for advertisers, who have found a way to tap into a disproportionately affluent slice of the market.

Consider: Britain's gays — accounting for around 6% of the population, or about 3.6 million — pocket an estimated $130 billion annually, according to a recent survey. Openly gay men in full-time jobs earn $18,000 a year more than the male national average; among lesbians, the premium is $12,000. (It's a similar story in France, too.) Hence, for advertisers — whether dreaming up mainstream publicity fit for a gay audience, or appealing directly via gay media — it's cool to think pink.

"This is an important market [with] good levels of disposable income," says a spokesman for British Airways, whose ads — like the one marking its commitment to EuroPride '06 — appear in gay media both in print and online. That publicity has delivered the airline "good success in terms of driving revenues," he adds. "And that will continue."

Commercial Closet Association, a New York City-based group that counsels firms on smarter representation of gays in advertising, logged 436 gay-themed ads in global gay and mainstream media last year — around a fifth of which appeared in Europe — versus around 350 in 2003. "What might seem a very brave step to make isn't that brave, really," says Jon Howard, strategy director of London ad agency Quiet Storm. He suggests gays are on average "more affluent, more interested in style and brands, and travel more" than their straight counterparts.

Moreover, some research indicates that merely delivering a gay-tailored message is enough to create a long-term relationship. According to the Outright 2006 survey, more than one-third of British gays and lesbians claim that tailored advertising in gay media will foster their loyalty to a brand — regardless of the quality relative to other brands. Gay consumers react kindly to companies "speaking to a part of their identity that is usually ignored," suggests David Muniz, commercial director at QSoft Consulting, which operates a string of gay media sites online.

Little wonder, then, that advertising in gay-oriented outlets is flourishing. Beverage companies like Anheuser-Busch, holiday firms including Travelocity and automakers such as Ford helped nudge advertising spend in the U.S. gay and lesbian press to $212 million last year, up more than a quarter since 2003, according to research carried out by Rivendell Media and Prime Access. Europe's markets might be more modest, but the gap is closing. Ad revenues at Diva, Britain's top-selling lesbian magazine, have ballooned 73% in the last five years, a period which saw overall British magazine advertising spend dip.

About half of all branded advertising in gay media in the U.S. is tailored for that market, and that, says Ian Johnson, managing director of Out Now Consulting, is "what European companies are not yet getting right." Some brands hit the right note: ads for the German National Tourist Office appearing in Britain earlier this year had a separate message for gays and lesbians. Others simply strike out heterosexual references for a gay audience. Ads in mainstream media in Britain last year suggested that without L'Oréal's moisturizer for men, "she thinks you look overworked"; for similar ads in gay publications, "she" became a "he." Others are less careful. One recent advertiser in Britain's gay press tried to pass off a cropped wedding snap of the groom and best man as two grooms.

Of course, targeting the same-sex market can still risk alienating some other consumers. The American Family Association (afa) this year reinstated a boycott on Ford autos, protesting the firm's product-focused ads in U.S. gay media. Randy Sharp, a director at afa, condemns Ford's ads for "giving credit to [homosexuality] as being a normal lifestyle." Ford says its decision last year to scrap publicity for its Jaguar brand was commercial, unrelated to pressure from afa.

The U.K. Advertising Standards Authority (asa) in recent months received 19 complaints that the gay kiss featured in Dolce & Gabbana's TV spot was "unacceptable" (asa dismissed the complaints upon investigation). Brewer Guinness didn't even get that far. In the mid-'90s, the company created a TV commercial featuring a man dashing to get ready for work; when he kisses his partner on the way out — to the tune of Tammy Wynette's Stand by Your Man — it becomes clear that his partner too is male. A veteran clean-up-TV activist panned the clip, and the ad was never aired.

While tolerance for gays and lesbians seems to have increased since then, Britain's asa received dozens of complaints — deemed not worthy of an official probe by the watchdog — about a female-on-female kiss in a recent British TV ad for fashion label French Connection. The company denies it set out to make a "gay-themed" commercial and says it was intended "as a visualization of the debate between fashion and style." Still, the watchdog upheld complaints involving the retailer's long-running (though now-pared-back) FCUK campaign. Getting consumers' attention — gay or straight — is an imprecise science, and what makes a brand cutting-edge will likely make it hands-off to others.

 

[J'aime_la_mode]

interesting article, thankyou!

 

[happycanadian]

Very interesting article! Thanks much for that!

 

[Likwidstar]

I'm in love with this thread!
All these ads are just FANTASTIC!

 

[donner]

This image, initially posted by Spike413 and from a Gaultier ad, reminds me just a bit of Tom of Finland although the guys are less muscular than his fantsy figures. The guy facing the audience must have really big feet.

 

[ScrabbleDabble]

Go bless this thread, it's so steamy, anyways the fashion industry itself is pretty "open" and you should just expect it, although you wouldnt have seen this 10 years ago

 

[Miss Dalloway]

I would love to see that ad from D&G maybe it will end up on You Tube!?!
I totally missed Ashton there,thanks for reminder Sanne!

 

[rouge_red]

I love this topic more?

 

[rouge_red]

Gisele Bundchen for Dior, from her thread
&
one pic from the couples-thread on BZ

 

[SiennaInLondon]

A lot of these don't seem very gay to me. Do you guys think people read gay where there is none these days?

 

[rouge_red]

I know, but a few of them look so

 

[verymoni]

Just reposting this pic from a couple pages back because, well, it's a hot pic and there is a certain Ashton Kutcher in there! (second guy from left)

is Chris O'donnel the second boy in the middle of the page?, in the picture of the right, the second boy who has his elbow in the other half

 

[Majella]

In #288 is also Tom Welling (Smallville).
He is in the first picture behind the other guys.

 

[SusanSuperstar]

LOVE this Thread!!!!!!!

 

[John Black]

How about this??

jedroot

 

[|PerfectTonight|]

A lot of these don't seem very gay to me. Do you guys think people read gay where there is none these days?

Completely agree!
However, on the side note I don't have anything against gay ads or eds but sometimes it's either too much that it reflects kitsch/distaste, or too little which leads people picking up the slightest clues to create controversy.

 

[rouge_red]

How about this??

jedroot

uhm... Like them, and it has gayness all over it

 

[Neo_Classic]

Two men together is definitely sexier then two women. I guess since I'm a heterosexual woman my opinion is biased but I've asked a few other people as well and the consensus is usually the same.

Also, to Sienna I think the majority of the ads in this thread do contain homosexuality but they don't have to be in your face. Personally, my fav. is the Kenneth Cole. Simple and yet so beautiful.

 

[gia0202]

i have noticed the trend too--and oi sduppose there are more people with a ho osexual lifestyle in this industry than in the general public--- so they express what is close to them?