Advertising to Gay and Lesbian Audiences

While the Sender reading explained advertising through traditionally gay and lesbian media, another class of mine described the opposite: how traditionally straight publications market to the gay and lesbian market.

Though there are similarities, the differences are much more obvious.

We established in class that the gay and lesbian market is becoming more important for advertising because of the market's high status in culture. The market has a tendency to be more affluent, which makes it a prime target for advertisers.

The article we read in class spoke about the difference between marketing sexy and sleazy. However, in more mainstream media, advertisers try something a little less obvious, which is a strategy known as gay window advertising.

One of the basic ideas of this strategy is marketing to the gay and lesbian community while remaining ambiguous to the majority population.

In the Calvin Klein ad above, the models are somewhat gender-ambiguous. It can be semi-difficult to tell the gender by first glance.

Another aspect could be the use of only male models or only female models, or the use of only one model, like this ad. With an ad of all female or all male models, it's undetermined that the advertiser is marketing toward any specific group. Also, with higher-end brands like Calvin Klein, the models are placed in such a way to promote sex without being sleazy, an important aspect for traditionally gay media.

It's important for advertisers in all media to start recognizing the gay and lesbian communities if they have not done so already. This audience is just as powerful as any other, and the products that market toward it will be successful.