Gay for Pay
Madison Avenue is hot and heavy for the pink dollar. In this extended gallery from Radar's February issue, we find out what exactly they're trying to sell
By Josie Swindler
With a median household income of $83,000—and, typically, no tots to spend it on—American homosexuals are a marketer's dream. Last year, more than 180 Fortune 500 companies hawked their wares in gay publications. Skittish brands targeted gay consumers with subtly coded campaigns as sexually ambiguous as Anderson Cooper, while the more daring resorted to imagery that would make even Carson Kressley blush. "It's laughable," says Stephanie Blackwood, cofounder of gay-oriented ad shop Double Platinum, who says that major agencies tend to rely on crude sexual stereotypes. Radar sampled seven campaigns, ranging from the demure to the debauched, to get to the bottom of things.
THAT'S WHAT WE CALL A POWER BOTTOM
"You're the first person to bring it up," says GSD&M Idea City account director Corey Platt when asked about the seemingly suggestive advert. "I can definitely see how it can be taken that way, but we didn't set out to specifically target the gay audience. I think it was a bonus that it resonated so well with them." According to Platt, the ads worked particularly well in Miami and L.A. "We knew we could push it a little bit more in those areas," says Platt. You don't say?
continued at link.......
http://www.radaronline.com/from-the-magazine/2008/01/gay_ads_air_canada_embassy_suites_chipotle_coors_light_01.phpI can't wait until DU finds out about this...
