With the Super Bowl so close to Valentine’s Day this year, McDonald’s served up a real-life gay couple and others talking about how they know their loved one’s favorite McDonald’s meal.
“His order is a 20-piece Chicken McNugget,” says one young man about the other, as they hold hands. “Knowing their order is a sign of loving them.”
You’ll be forgiven for missing this queer pair since they appear less often compared to the other couples. In fact, all media attention has been lavished on celebrities Cardi B and Offset who star in the ad.
(Starting Feb. 14, McDonald’s food fans will be able to purchase a “celebrity meal” from Cardi B and Offset — the chain’s first ever duo celebrity meal. It’s a cheeseburger, BBQ sauce and a large Coke for her, and a Quarter Pounder with cheese and a large Hi-C Orange Lavaburst for him.)
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There were more LGBTQ references in the big game this year, a recovery from a near queer absence last year, even as 2023 game ads set a record at $7 million for 30 seconds.
Rap star Jack Harlow appears to give up rap music to play the triangle in a spot for Doritos. In the ad, he becomes a huge triangle star but in an awards show upset, the “Triangle Player of the Year” award instead humorously goes to Elton John.
Multiple queer boys appear in the high school classroom scene for the Rakuten shopping app ad, which is modeled on the 1995 movie Clueless and actually features its original star, Alicia Silverstone.
Funnyman Will Ferrell stars in an electric vehicle General Motors/Netflix mashup spot that briefly includes Jonathan Van Ness and Antoni Porowski from “Queer Eye” as they help a runaway bride from the show “Love is Blind.”
Tennis legend Billie Jean King appears in a long, two-minute spot from the NFL but it’s unexpectedly for flag football and features Mexico’s women’s national flag football team quarterback running all over the place.
Thinking back, you may remember a few notable overseas gay ads from McDonald’s, such as the one from France in 2010, where a high school boy tries to come out to his clueless father.
Then there’s the one from Taiwan in 2016, where a boy silently comes out to his father by writing “I like guys” on his dad’s coffee cup, and his dad then writes in that he accepts it.
Last year, McDonald’s began revving up its LGBTQ advertising stateside with commercial featuring a gay male kickball team from LA’s Varsity Gay League. The team members “cheers” with a chicken nugget and a player says, “Our friendships may have started on the field, but this is our happy place.”
But McDonald’s has never featured a gay couple before and everything is bigger on the Super Bowl advertising “stage.”
To borrow their slogan, I’m lovin’ it!
Michael Wilke has covered LGBT issues in advertising since 1992, is the founder of Commercial Closet/AdRespect.org, and Senior US Consultant for LGBT marketing and diversity firm Out Now.
RIGay
I missed a lot of the spots (did not really focus much on the game), but the recap is wonderful! It’s great to see so much visibility during such an incredibly heterocentric event.
Da Sean
I really look forward to the end of the day, right before bed, when I finally open Queerty, to read the stories. Makes me happy. Makes me smile. Makes me remember I’m ok. The ads during the Super Bowl make me laugh and remember we’ve come a long way.