The Human Rights Campaign Foundation's WorkNet project has
endorsed a set of guidelines created by The Commercial Closet
Association to address how gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people
are portrayed in mainstream advertising.
The "Mainstream Advertising Best Practices Guidelines" are aimed at
helping advertisers create more effective general market ads that will
appeal to both a majority of the population and the gay community,
according to HRC Education Director Kim I. Mills, who oversees HRC
WorkNet.
"An increasing number of Americans say they know someone gay, so it's
reasonable to expect to see more gay, lesbian and transgender imagery in
advertising," Mills said. "These guidelines are the first we've seen and
we believe they provide clear and reasonable tips, as well as examples
for advertisers to follow so that they can be creative without being
insensitive."
Commercial Closet founder and veteran ad journalist Michael Wilke said
he created the guidelines because "the general population is becoming
less tolerant of insensitive ads and messages. Advertisers need to adapt
to quickly changing values to keep brand and product images relevant
with consumers, businesses, investors and employees."
The Commercial Closet Association is a non-profit group that studies gay
images in advertising. HRC WorkNet (www.hrc.org/worknet) is a national
source of information on workplace policies and laws surrounding sexual
orientation and gender identity.
More than 90 percent of Americans say they know someone gay, according
to a 2002 study by Harris Interactive for the Gill Foundation. Some 42
percent of heterosexuals said they would be less likely to buy a product
advertised on an anti-gay program, a recent Witeck-Combs/Harris poll
found.
Drawing upon trial, experience, analysis and reporting observations from
Commercial Closet Association's supporting board of industry
professionals, the "Best Practices" recommendations include:
- Be inclusive and diverse. Whenever people are shown, include GLBT
individuals/family members/friends/couples, reflecting varied ages,
races, etc. Language references to family, relationships or gender
should not be hetero-centric. Positive example: Class reunion mentions
people who "came out" (John Hancock, 2001). - Avoid positioning homosexuality/transgender as a perceived "threat"
for humor. Negative example: A spokesman in a jail jokes about not
bending over or being left alone in a cell with a man. (7UP, 2002) - Be sensitive to gay, lesbian, and transgender stereotypes.
Advertising often stereotypes, but beware of complications. Feminine gay
men and deceitful/scary transgender people are cliches that alienate
many. Seek balance and unexpected twists by countering stereotypes.
Positive example: Two tough guys build a skate ramp with power tools,
then congratulate each other with a romantic kiss. (MTV, 2002) - Do good research. When conducting general research or forming new
mainstream campaigns, GLBT perspectives should be considered and
included as often as possible. Don't limit their input only to
gay-targeted messages. Positive example: Subaru surveyed its consumers
and found a strong lesbian base. - Go national. Consumers outside of major coastal cities are often
improperly considered lacking sophistication to handle GLBT themes.
Positive example: Women flirt with a gay man, aired on network sports
(Miller Lite, 2001). - Be consistent and confident. Modifying or withdrawing ads suggests
waffling and creates further trouble. Respond to any criticism with
business rationales, like diversity and the bottom line. Avoid
time-restricted airings of material unless ads legitimately deal with
sexual situations inappropriate to youth. Negative example: John
Hancock ad edited to obscure female couple (2000).
The guidelines illustrate their points with positive examples from other
companies, including American Express, IBM, Ford Motor Co., Levi Strauss
& Co., Mars Inc. and Miller Brewing Co. for recent ad executions, but
listed General Motors/DirectTV and McCormick & Co. as examples of poor
messaging.
The guidelines also outline specific steps that marketers and ad
agencies can take to execute the best practices, such as using gay focus
groups, providing sensitivity training for staff, and having senior
executives endorse and disseminate the best practices to internal and
external staff.
The Commercial Closet's Mainstream Advertising Best Practices is
available online in full at
http://www.commercialcloset.org/cgi-bin/iowa/index.html?page=best
Commercial Closet is a non-profit education and journalism organization
that reaches out to marketers, ad agencies, the media and world-at-large
to educate about portrayals of the gay community in mainstream
advertising worldwide. It leverages an archival web site, a traveling
video lecture, a syndicated ad column, and public relations. The
project's web site, containing a collection of over 1,000 video and
print ads spanning six continents and 85 years, attracts over 120,000
unique monthly visitors.
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