The well-intentioned folks at Taco Bell seem to be making an attempt at courting the gays with a new pro-gay advertisement.
The commercial, which leaked online earlier this month and which is perhaps the most heteronormative pro-gay commercial in the history of pro-gay commercials, features to douchey straight guys allegedly gay men breakfasting at Taco Bell and daydreaming about all the activities they’d like to do together, including cuddling under an oak tree in a park, hunting for buried treasure, and getting married.
We’re not sure how we feel about the whole thing, so instead we’ll just say: Thanks for the support, Taco Bell… We appreciate it… We guess… But we’re still not interested in eating your steak and egg A.M. “crunch wrap” with a hash brown inside. We’re gay, after all. Our standards are a little higher than that.
Check out the commercial below. And sound off in the comments section below: How do you feel about Taco Bell’s attempt at marketing to the gays?
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PRINCE OF SNARKNESS aka DIVKID
Epic troll fail
Lvng1Tor
@PRINCE OF SNARKNESS aka DIVKID: Agreed….apparently Queerty is only interested in inclusive commercials if it represents their own pristine super gay gym bunny eye pleasing perfect existence they obviously live.
Come on….it’s a cute commercial. I’ve met a lot of gay men who’s food standards don’t reach anywhere near taco bell standards.
seeingeye
As a matter of fact, I am a gay man and I do eat at Taco Bell, McDonald’s, Jack in the Box, and all the rest of them. I don’t fit the stereotype, and I shouldn’t have to.
Being gay is not a lifestyle…it’s just a sexual orientation. A gay person can live whatever sort of life they wish, and that includes diet.
polarisfashion
People can eat whatever they want but I’m still not topping someone that just recently ate at Taco Bell!
Chris
Queerty get up in a tizzy because Chick-a-Fil is anti-gay; and now, it gets snide when Taco Bell tries something cute. Try the Dale Carnegie book, “How to make friends and influence people,” Queerty…..sheesh!
jwtraveler
It’s a stupid commercial just like all the stupid commercials with straight couples. It’s not gonna get me to go to Taco Bell.
Rust Nick
I actually liked it.
vonric
Witty, brash, and fresh…..think it represents a further “normalization’ if you will…morning fantasy time? a little gaming, a little cuddling that is SFW and a little adventure and a touch of romance? seems pretty sweet to me.
Would I ever eat their food? na, being Type I diabetic requires way too much attention to avoiding cheap carbs. That said, kudos to Taco for giving it a shot. And I know any number of guys who like guys who dine on fast food….
Sammy Schlipshit
Goofy!!!!
Hard for me to believe there were any gay men involved in either writing or producing that silly commercial. If so, they must be Log Cabin republican’ts.
….and it sure didn’t work on me.
I live in the land of almond milk and tacos. Thank goodness there are plenty of local, small, locally owned restaurants and joints for me to fulfill all my intake needs.
rae
“features to douchey straight guys allegedly gay men” – dear queer…please go back to school and learn how to use “to”…and “two”…thanks!
PRINCE OF SNARKNESS aka DIVKID
We get it: if it’s not tweaking or voguing or “reading to filth” it’s not being its “authentically gay self.” Boo hiss to Heteronormality!
PRINCE OF SNARKNESS aka DIVKID
oops *twerking
but then again…
Kieran
Taco Bell makes a gay friendly commercial that basically gives the finger to homophobes across America, and this “gay website” shows it’s support with:
“We’re gay, after all. Our standards are a little higher than that.”
Yeah, because you know us gay men are all snooty, persnickety snobs when it comes to eating out, right?
Lvng1Tor
@polarisfashion: YOU TOPPING!?!
Charli Girl
Gay is NOT a lifestyle, PERIOD! It’s who we were born, ugh That being said, I think it’s great that there is someone countering the crap fila chain. So I welcome the peace offering from Taco Bell, took ya long enough, UGH
NOW WHERE ‘S THE GORGEOUS WOMEN? wink wink
ethan_hines
Does it have to be so BLATANTLY obvious? Are there no advertising agencies that can make a commercial that appeals to non-hetros without playing campy music and exaggerated gesticulations. Are we ever going to get to the point where we see two guys or two girls together and just realise they are a couple without going to the extreme?
Desert Boy
Kudos to Taco Bell for embracing the gay audience. However, I don’t know many gay men who eat there. Here in Southern California, we have Del Taco for quick, gassy and cheap knock-off Mexican food. But I have to say, Del Taco’s french fries are outstanding.
onthemark
I dunno – the 7 Layer Burrito always seemed pretty gay to me!
@Desert Boy: I can understand Calif. snobs looking down on Taco Bell when you have many better options. But in much of the US, Taco Bell is the only halfway decent “Mexican” food there is. Hell, it’s often the only halfway decent FAST food there is.
Ryuun12
Wow. So a company is showing that they support us, but because you think gays are too good for them, you don’t like it. That is just stupid and obnoxious.
Shit I’ll eat 10 fuckin’ tacos. Taco Bell is good and cheap.
For a community who whines about wanting support, we sure have high fucking standards. They are trying! Jeez. Watch them see all this negative talk and they just come out against gay marriage. What will you say then?
polarisfashion
@Lvng1Tor: Guess I’m not fooling anyone! Maybe this commercial is a bit over the top with it’s “gayness” but I think it’s a start in the right direction. I would love to seem more commericals from more companies that feature our LGBTQ community in a positive way.
Fidelio
I don’t think this was meant to be a pro gay commercial. I think it was meant to describe how happy and energetic someone can become after eating their breakfast.
jason smeds
I don’t see anything wrong with this ad. It could be 2 friends having a bit of fun. It’s more about male closeness than about sex between 2 men.
Tracy Pope
I don’t eat Taco Bell food, their meat tastes like dog food (Don’t ask me how I know this, it’s an ugly story), but when I first saw this on another site I wasn’t sure if Taco Bell was making fun of gay men or making an effort at being inclusive. To me it seems like straight men trying very hard to convince someone they’re gay. It doesn’t give me a warm fuzzy feeling.
Shabby Sweater
It is a cute commercial. The problem, however, is that Taco Bell is owned by Yum! Brands and that company contributed and still contributes to many blatantly homophobic politician’s campaigns. I boycott them for the same reason I boycott Chic-fil-A and Urban Outfitters.
DarkZephyr
I liked the commercial, LOVE Taco Bell and don’t see anything about them that was “douchey”.
@Tracy Pope: Why does it seem like “straight men”? Is it because of their mannerisms? There is no such thing as “straight acting”. Its just as bad to judge someone for seeming “masculine” as it is to judge someone for seeming “feminine”. Dear Lord this is ridiculous. This is like the gay version of the divisions in the film “School Daze”.
joseph
NO! NO&NO!!!!!!
Tracy Pope
@DarkZephyr: No. It has nothing to do with masculine versus feminine. It was the “wink-wink” vibe I got from the commercial. As far as what is gay and what isn’t when it comes to masculine or feminine – I don’t care.
Ditamo
The guy in purple (i think its purple, or some incarnation of the color), is a contestant in The Creature Shop Challenge, a challenge show on Syfy, I think he is gay, not 100% sure. His name is Ben Bayouth if you want to see his art work. He is cute, I think, plus he is a gamer and SciFi nerd as well, he’s into Lol!
Mack
It could have been worst, they could have used Marcus Bachmann as the straight pretending to be gay guy.
I don’t think being gay means not eating fast foods or only eating fancy foods. I’ve been eating fast foods all my life and I also eat fancy foods. It depends on where I’m at or what I’m doing at the time. I’m not particularly fond of Taco Bell but in a pinch I’ll eat their burrito supreme or their nacho supreme. Same goes with McD or any other place. But I have been good for the last two years and eat fast food rarely.
Lvng1Tor
@polarisfashion: 🙂
brandon
i love it 🙂
loafersguy
The thing is, Taco Bell is saying that it didn’t make the commercial:
http://www.lgbtqnation.com/2014/12/whos-behind-the-leaked-gay-taco-bell-commercial-taco-bell-isnt-saying/
GayEGO
Hey! We are going to see more of LGBTs in commercials and movies just like we see the straights! Isn’t that how it should be? Equal means equal, good for Taco Bell! :>)
Tracy Pope
@loafersguy: Maybe that’s why it didn’t seem quite right to me.
Sisko24
And why weren’t they riding a Harley? All the gay guys I know who ride own Harleys, not whatever that was between their legs in the ad.
jwtraveler
I really don’t care about the commercial. But let’s be clear, Taco Bell isn’t airing this commercial to support or embrace gay men. This commercial has the same goal as every other advertisement everywhere: to sell a product. Taco Bell (and many other companies these days) has decided that there is a gay market to exploit and a lot of gay dollars that they can try to attract. They’ve also calculated that the profit they stand to make from gay people (and our supporters) is more than the money they’ll lose from any boycotts by anti-gay people. This doesn’t make Taco Bell pro-gay or anti-gay. It makes it a profit-driven company like every other.
But yes, it is nice to see gay people in commercials.