Since most of us only consume the media aimed, more or less, at us, we rarely see how the same product is often marketed very differently to different audiences. These two ads (found here) are for the "general market" and the gay male market respectively. They tell a story about how the advertisers perceive straight and gay masculinities.
Text: "When you walk into a bar, you're on stage. Good luck."
Text: "It's a bar, not a catwalk. Good luck."
4 comments:
March 29, 2008 at 9:28 AM
This post belongs on the fail blog. Maybe there are just multiple images in this ad campaign? Did you prove that both don't appear in each magazine? I don't see any clear evidence in either image to suggest it's directed either way.
March 29, 2008 at 11:46 AM
daniel,
you're technically correct. however, i did find the lower ad in a gay male publication, and these pubs do tend to be specific in their targeting. in the segregated advertising industry, it's common practice for the "minority" agencies to repurpose existing "general market" ads to speak to others audiences. in this case, what other sense would there be to having two different headlines with the same image?
April 4, 2008 at 8:45 AM
It just seems to me that the idea of being "on stage" is going to appeal to the theatrical stereotype of gay men, while the criticism of the catwalk and high fashion is more likely to appeal to the stereotype of the straight bourbon drinker.
April 16, 2008 at 11:24 AM
At first I would agree with Danie but on second thought maybe not... First of all the "typical" straight guy isn't going to know what a catwalk is. More importantly though, when a gay guy walks into a bar to buy that kind of alcohol, he's probably not the stereotypically gay guy and well aware of it.
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