Head to your local gay pride parade (in a major city) and you’re certain to see some blue chip advertisers showing off how full of pride, and desperate for gay dollars, they are. Last time I checked, Absolut still funneled a good chunk of change putting shirtless hotties in front of their brand name on a float. But across the board, are major corporations — once flush with cash to court your cash — abandoning the queers in droves?
Chiqui Cartagena, a multi-culti marketing exec at the firm Story Worldwide, found herself in New York at the gay and lesbian film festival NewFest … and searching for major advertisers supporting the ‘mo arts. And while Marc Jacobs had his name plastered all over everything, regular staples like American Express didn’t.
NewFest was made possible this year thanks to the generosity, primarily, of the fashion designer Marc Jacobs, with additional sponsorships from Showtime’s “The Real L Word,” Mitchell Gold & Bob Williams, TekServe, Grand Marnier, IFP, The Gem Hotel, Viña Casablanca, Chilean wines Santa Carolina and NYC’s Gay & Lesbian Center, among others. Some of these sponsors are certainly big, mainstream brands, but what is interesting to me is that the top three are either owned by gay men or, in the case of Showtime, do programming specifically oriented to the gay and lesbian community. So I scratch my head, wondering if major brands simply don’t care about advertising to the LGBT community anymore.
What gives?
“Gay-inclusive storytelling is what is suffering,” says [Bob Witeck, CEO, Witeck Combs Communications]. “Budgets are shifting to mainstream agencies who claim to have the LGBT competency in-house, but in reality assign the job to someone on staff who just happens to be gay.” And then, there’s also the issue around push-back from objectors like Bill O’Reilly and interest groups who are anti-gay. “Brands have a hard time navigating what they consider a cultural dialogue or debate, even though public opinion has changed, and acceptance is stronger,” says Witeck.
But I’d also argue that as advertising dollars grow tighter, and each dollar spent is micro-analyzed for return on investment, media buying agencies also start convincing themselves they can still reach the gays by going mainstream. Advertising during Modern Family or Kathy Griffin‘s reality show will reach the gays, so no need to go on LOGO. Details and GQ will suffice, while Out and Instinct aren’t necessary.
How about we take this to the next level?
Our newsletter is like a refreshing cocktail (or mocktail) of LGBTQ+ entertainment and pop culture, served up with a side of eye-candy.
That solution ignores one crucial element of marketing to a demographic like LGBTs — or blacks, or Hispanics: That we’re much more likely to spend dollars with companies that specifically cater to our community. Show us your love, and we’ll show you ours.
AlfredMartin
Advertisers are out to make money and even when they target advertising to LGBT audiences, that doesn’t mean they support us, that just means they want our money — Plain and simple.
Tessie Tura
Advertising is down everywhere. Magazines are shutting down because of this. They’re cutting back to all demographics, not just gays and lesbians or Jewish quadriplegics. It’s the economy, Miss Thing.
Josh
While it’s problematic for large brands to give in to the culture wars when it comes to advertising, it’s also nice to point out how many LGBT-owned companies can now sponsor large events like Newfest.
Annie @OutLOUDstock
Advertising is down all across the board and the LGBT market shouldn’t be singled out as being any different. Marketing budgets have been significantly scaled back from big corporations to the small businesses that advertise to the LGBT consumer. While there are definitely signs of improvement, it will still take a bit longer before spending is back to where it used to be.
SSCHIEFRSHA
“When Did Major Advertisers Stop Caring About the Gays?”
Uhhh since they discovered our deep dark secret……..most of us are not monogamous hence our inability to stay loyal to any brand. It’s liability they cannot afford.
roro
Not true–you can reach me in many ways…who says you have to do it in traditional ways…for instance…this blog…
Queer Supremacist
Nos. 1 and 2. made the point I was going to make. Advertising is down all over, and taking our money is not the same as “caring about us”? How needy are we that we need Fortune 500 corporations to care about us?
@SSCHIEFRSHA: Speak for yourself about monogamy.
jimstoic
It’s true that Out and Instinct aren’t necessary.