It appears that everyone is now privy to the same rights and privileges as those of us willfully ensconced in hetero-normative life patterns. We’re talking about access to super unnecessary and expensive public symbols of romantic love—the kind featured in Tiffany’s new ad campaign. Two handsome gentlemen sit on the steps of what we’re guessing is a fancy pants brownstone (who knows? maybe posing for engagement portraits?) in the ad. They don’t have rings on YET, but we’re pretty sure that’s next on tap.
With gay marriage now—thankfully—becoming more and more the norm, retailers like J. Crew and Gap are featuring same sex couples in their advertisements. This is, of course, just good business: Companies will obviously benefit monetarily from a progressive stance in the long run (and in the short sales run, too).On a less cynical note, it is nice to see advertising campaigns represent diversity and leave homophobia in the dust.
We still think the ad industry could do better, though. Where are the trans couples? Non-binary couples? Gay couples of color? Committed polyamorous relationships? Hell: Where are the lesbians?!
It seems that while trying to appeal to the LGBTQ community, advertisers almost always feature adorable white gay male couples. We can’t blame’em: We like looking at handsome cisgender men as much as the next human. We do not want to rid of the world of cute, white, cisgender men. But other people exist, too, and they deserve representation. Advertisers are only dipping a toe in the diversity pool. Now it’s time to dive into the deep end.
Image c/o Tiffany & Co.
