Back in 2019 In recognition of LGBT Pride Month, Mercedes-Benz USA teamed up with Australian director Jason Evans to create a new spot that celebrates the fundamental importance of human connection. Cast from New York’s diverse LGBTQ community the campaign brings together a group of mostly non-actors. Weaving together a poetic and affecting narrative, representative of the broader LGBTQ community. The brand chose to work with Leyna Bloom as narrator, who had recently become the first transgender woman of color to star in a movie which premiered at Cannes. It is Leyna’s powerful narration, thread throughout, that is the backbone of the piece. The video begins, “For me, everything started from within. I grew up in a world where I didn’t fit in so I wanted to create a new world that I did” before Leyna shares insights into her personal journey including struggles and achievements, looking to both the future as well as acknowledging the past.
Back in 2002 we still liked D& G before the reactionary queer couple spouted off some nasty anti-LGBTQ statements and this was one of our very favorite TV ads.
From 2021 the Massachusetts-based website CAR GURUS showed they had their finger one gay pulse with this cute advert ‘We Need Space” Overwhelmed by the pile of luggage cluttering the entry hall, the man in red remarks that “this is never going to work,” no doubt referring to squeezing all those bags into the trunk of their car — but his partner immediately frets that he wants to end their relationship. When a CarGurus representative comes to the rescue and tries to explain that he’s just shopping for bigger SUVs using CarGurus’ helpful analytics, the fretful man is still suspicious until he’s assured that his partner doesn’t need space after all… unless it’s trunk space, that is.
One of Queerguru’s all-time fav ads was made for Guinness in 2008 A hunky, young guy gets ready for work, making a mess all along the way. After his bath, magazines and other articles float in the water. Selecting his clothes, he sniffs then rejects the shirt by tossing it onto the floor. Meanwhile, a rubber-gloved hand picks up after him. As he runs out the front door, coffee cup in hand, he passes his boyfriend, whom we see for the first time, and the Tammy Wynette tune “Stand by Your Man” swells. He puts the mug atop his car and gets in as his boyfriend wearily waves goodbye, the mug clunks to the ground, and the ad closes with a glass of Guinness beer. This British ad created so much scandal before it was even aired that shamefully Guinness dropped it all over a beautiful peck on the cheek.
The Renault Car Company are no strangers to making ‘inclusive’ ads and they score very high with us for both quantity and quality. In 2003 a police siren sounds and a motorcycle cop dismounts from his bike after just pulling a vehicle over. Without a word, he starts writing in his pad, looking the vehicle up and down, walking very macho-ly from the front to the rear. The handsome man in the vehicle sits quietly and nervously. With a stone face behind his reflective sunglasses, the cop silently hands the driver his ticket and the cop rides away. The young man looks down mystified — the “ticket” is instead the cop’s phone number.
This beautiful DORITOS advert from 2021 is a welcome breakthrough in Mexican and Latin American communities who are not always that accepting and welcoming of LGBTQ communities In this heart-melting commercial as they honor their deceased loved one, beloved Uncle Alberto’s spirit comes out as gay to all of his living family
After a moment of silence, the family rejoices as the commercial concludes, “It’s never too late to be your true self,” with the hashtag #PrideAllYear.
Labels: 2022, inclusive, Top Picks, tv adverts
