The 14 Best LGBT Commercials Of 2014
Even
in 2014, visibility is one of the most powerful tools in the LGBT community’s
arsenal. So representation in advertising still matters—especially because it
reaches such a broad spectrum of people.
Related: The Best LGBT Commercials of 2013
Below,
we went through this year’s LGBT-inclusive commercials—from Starbucks spots to
Super Bowl ads—and ranked the Top 14. No fast-forwarding!
14. Taco Bell
An
viral ad for
Taco Bell’s breakfast menu featured two male coworkers who grab
breakfast before work—and also go on a romantic date, find buried treasure,
get married and go on a honeymoon.
While
Yum! Brands, Taco Bell’s parent company, swears it didn’t make the ad, a
spokesperson said ” we can see the people who did share the same Live Mas
passion for our brand—and our breakfast—as we do.
13. DirecTV NFL Package
DirecTV’s
commercial promoting its NFL Sunday Ticket features
a gay couplethat takes its football rivalry to the extreme.
As
the guys barrel through their living room like linebackers, a voiceover says
“Chris and I have a friendly rivalry: Giants-Cowboys. You know the deal. …
Sure, we still argue sometimes. But we’re just like any couple, really.”
13. Honey Maid, “This is Wholesome”
Honey
Maid refreshed its image this year and redefined the word “wholesome” with a
commercial featuring diverse families enjoying healthy snacks—including a
gay male couple swaddling their newborn.
“We
recognize change is happening every day, from the way in which a family looks
today to how a family interacts to the way it is portrayed in media,” said
marketing director Gary Osifchin.
The
spot sparked a failed boycott from One Million Moms, to which Honey Maid made
perhaps the best countermove ever: They printed
out the hateful tweets and
emails and made a giant “Love” sculpture out of them.
11. Coca-Cola, “America the Beautiful”
During
the second quarter of Super Bowl XLVIII, Coca-Cola premiered an ad featuring
diverse families from around the country, including two gay dads
roller-skating with their daughter (above at about :42).
“Today
I see people asking us to hold hands,” said one of the dads in a
behind-the-scenes interview. “People embracing us as a family and respecting
us.”
10. Chevrolet, “#TheNew”
During
the opening ceremonies at the Sochi Winter Games, Chevrolet
aired two LGBT-inclusive spots—one depicting an interracial gay couple,
another showing two dads teaching their young son how to paint (above,
starting at the :09 mark).
“The
world is always changing around us. And we are all defining what it looks like
every single day,” the company said in a statement. “They are things that are
always constant, even if they’re ever evolving. Share with the world what
#TheNew is to you.”
9. One Toyota of Oakland, CA
An
Oakland, California, Toyota dealership produced what may have been the first
car commercial to exclusively feature a same-sex couple.
The
commercial, produced by One Toyota of Oakland, showed a woman
calling her spouse to reveal that she had bought a car. As the spot closes, we
see that that her spouse is a woman.
“As
far as I know… no one has ever seen a local advertisement that has a same-sex
couple in it,” Handcrafted Media’s David Pippenger told SF
Gate.
8. Starbucks: Coffee Frenemies
Two
of our favorite RuPaul’s
Drag Race divas, Adore
Delano and Bianca Del Rio, made their commercial debut in a Starbucks
commercial this fall.
In
the spot, created in conjunction with Canada’s OutTV, Adore needs something to
get her through a stressful day. But when she slips into a nearby Starbucks
for a fix, a certain raccoon-eyed comedy queen is there to block her from
jumping the line.
7. Spotify “Say It With Song”
Spotify
illustrated how you can find love through music in
its “Say It With A Song” campaign, which featured a young man trying
to find the right song to convey his feelings to the guy he’s hung up on.
6. The Boxtrolls trailer
The
Boxtrolls, the latest
family animated feature from the studio that gave usParanorman, gave a nod to LGBT families in its first trailer.
The
promo explained how sometimes children have two fathers and sometimes they
have two mothers. And sometimes they have “a father, mother, grandmother,
grandfather, weird aunties with odd hats, a butler and two uncles who do
nothing but eat rare smell cheese.”
5. Target: “Made to Matter”
An
ad for
Target’s “Made to Matter” product line, which focuses on Earth-friendly
and sustainable ingredients, featured an adorable gay couple and their
young child.
“Target
is committed to diversity and inclusion in every aspect of our business,
including our marketing efforts,” said a rep for the company. “The casting of
this couple and their son is in line with previous marketing that Target has
created, including our wedding registry ad campaigns.”
4. General Mills , “The Cheerios Effect”
General
Mills invited the public to share stories as
part of its “Cheerios Effect” campaign. One couple, André and Jonathan, met
on a blind date and instantly hit it off. Eventually finding that they
“couldn’t keep all this luck and love” to themselves, the guys adopted their
too-cute daughter, Raphaëlle.
3. Cornetto Ice Cream, “40 Love”
As
part of Cornetto
Ice Cream’s “Cupidity” web series, a pro tennis player and a line judge
share a lesbian-love connection in a vignette narrated by Lily Allen.
What
does that have to do with ice cream? We’re not sure, but we approve of the
eight-minute ” 40 Love” spot nonetheless.
2. Allstate: “Safe In My Hands”
Allstate
released a short animated film featuring the new song, “Safe in My Hands” by
out singer-songwriter Eli Lieb, as
part of its 2014 LGBT campaign, “Out Holding Hands.”
“We
believe everyone should be treated with respect and without judgment no matter
who they love,” Allstate said in a statement. The insurance company also has
an “Out Holding Hands” gallery that you can contribute to by using the hashtag
“#OutHoldingHands” on Twitter and Instagram.
1. Tide Detergent
In
December, an ad for
Tide detergent featured a
gay couple playfully bickering about the laundry and ribbing each other about
past “mistakes.” Unfortunately, the adorable commercial only appeared in
Canada.
Earlier
in the year Procter & Gamble, the corporation that makes Tide, issued a
statement
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