Thursday, January 18, 2007

"Fabulous" is so tired


Why is it that marketers from general market agencies think the word "fabulous" is THE word for the gay community? I find it to be a tired cliche. This ad for Hilton, currently running in most mainstream gay publications, is a perfect example.

Since I am a lesbian, I put out my feelers to my gay male friends and found out that they feel the same, some even more so. One of them said he finds the constant reference patronizing and an insult to his intelligence. Ouch!

Really, if "fabulous" is the best thing an ad agency can come up with for its client and their GLBT needs, they should get their asses back to the drawing board and/or the client needs to find a new agency.

While I am on a rant, let's address the rainbow flag. I love that flag and all the history that it stands for, but advertisers need to realize that it's not the only symbol of our community.

Our landscape as a community has changed drastically since Stonewall, a time when most gays had locked themselves into the closet out of fear for their own safety. I have never known a time that I felt unsafe in my openness thanks to those that have come before me.

My point here, and I do have one, that advertisers who want to portray our "gayness" need to appeal more to our open pride in being gay and living as gay Americans, than to patronize us with tired phrases and symbols that they think are gay.