Queervertising: An empowerment tool for the gay men and lesbian community

Engagement with the target through the cause

For brands, the positive effect of advertising is undisputed and it is often used to strengthen a connection with the target demographic. Åkestam et al. (2017) empirically demonstrate that those ad campaigns that include respectful representation of the LGBTIQ+ community increase the empathy of the recipients towards the company and the rest of society. Beyond the reputational benefit, Cunningham and Melton (2014) conclude that incorporating this theme in the creative axes results in improved business performance. Taylor and Costello (2017) indicate that in addition to improving performance, it contributes to the social responsibility of the brand. However, this effect does not occur as a generalizable maxim for all companies and for all targets, as using a cause for advertising and the consequent linked imagery must be managed with caution, because it can also create a critical environment if controversial or disruptive issues are involved (Gong, 2020; Holz Ivory, 2019).

Consumers’ self-concepts and brands

The Social Identity Theory proposed by Taylor and Costello (1985) has been widely used in research works to show that the recognition of a portrayal that involves membership of a social group enhances people’s self-image. Consequently, consumers can use brands to form their self-concept (Akermanidis & Venter, 2014). Several works evidence the contribution that can be made by advertising imagery to individuals’ sexual identity (Chae et al., 2016; Gong, 2020; Holz Ivory, 2019; Mikkonen, 2010; Oakenfull et al., 2008). As result of this, the use of gay men and lesbians’ subculture symbols in advertising, that reflect gay/lesbian identity, for instance referencing clothes, language, lifestyle etc, have meaning for the community and generate empathy with them (Oakenfull et al., 2008). By contrast, controversy can occur. On the one hand, a brand’s image can be potentially harmed when a portion of the customer base is not represented or is negatively represented in ads (Gong, 2020). On the other hand, the portrayal of gay men and lesbianism in advertising imagery can annoy or inconvenience consumers, precisely because they don’t see themselves as being represented, nor their beliefs, lifestyles etc (Akermanidis & Venter, 2014; Holz Ivory, 2019; Schmidt & Stocker, 2013). This dilemma for brands is often solved by mixing sexual advertisements that explicitly feature both gay men and lesbians and heterosexual models. Gong (2020, p. 916) points out that having “the portrayal of both models within the same message ensures their effectiveness due to the engagement with particular circumstances, [and the] lifestyle and feelings of each group”. In the same vein, Bond and Farrell (2020) underscore that messages which are not explicit but are likely to be associated with both heterosexual or gay men and lesbians were generally still appealing for all targets.

According to this principle, each person finds a relationship between their self-concept and the environment or situations with which they identify and, by extension, sexual orientation also plays a key role in this respect. However, there is limited empirical research about how gay-themed advertising affects heterosexual consumers’ perceptions (Holz Ivory, 2019; Madinga et al., 2020). These research works indicate that society has been increasingly accepting of gay men and lesbians’ portrayals in advertising but there are significant peculiarities. For example, Holz Ivory (2019) in her study evidences that heterosexual men showed more negative attitudes towards gay male representation than towards heterosexual and lesbian ads. Madinga et al. (2020), for their part, add that the negative perception is higher in the case of heterosexual men than for women. In addition to sexuality, other variables inherent to viewers are analysed. Research works have highlighted that a positive or negative attitude to gay men and lesbians’ portrayal in advertising can be explained due to age (there is more acceptance among young people) (Akermanidis & Venter, 2014; Schmidt & Stocker, 2013), the country of origin (developing countries are more receptive) (Akermanidis & Venter, 2014; Feng & Wu, 2009; Madinga et al., 2020), a country having strong traditional religious beliefs (Hetsroni, 2011), or the existence of gay-friendly attitudes (Madinga et al., 2020; Mikkonen, 2010; Orr et al., 2005).

Commercial and economic power of the gay men and lesbians community

The last reason explaining the recent concern for depicting the LGBTIQ+ community in advertising has to do with its interest to companies. On the one hand, there is so-called gay power due to the community’s purchasing power and its being an important part of the population. On the other hand, showing sympathy towards the gay movement attracts gay-friendly groups, which brands also wish to connect to.

It is estimated that 6% of the world's population is LGBTIQ+ (Jacob, 2017). Specifically, Spain has the second-highest proportion of this group in the world (6.9%), behind only Germany. In addition, Spain holds first place as a gay-friendly country when it comes to its acceptance and defence of gay rights (Poushter & Kent, 2020). Although there are no official statistics, studies such as that of Oakenfull and Greenlee (2005) show that the gay and lesbian community represents the highest per capita purchasing power of all minority groups in the United States; they even refer to this target as the “pink dollar”. This is a market often idealized by specialists because of its profitability for companies (Akermanidis & Venter, 2014). Thus, the representation of gay men and lesbians in advertisements aims to connect with this public (Iribure Rodrigues, 2017; Read et al., 2019) while favouring a brand image that respects gay-friendly targets, who develop a superior feeling for firms that favour the acceptance of the movement in their creative strategy (Åkestam et al., 2017; Orr et al., 2005).

The challenge for advertisers in Spain, given the high representation of the collective, as well as the country’s categorization as gay-friendly, leads us to assume that in its advertising imagery, the collective’s representation may be significant, and interesting for deeper analysis.

Most studies, in addition to being recent, focus on the effect of advertising content reflecting gay men and lesbians and its consequences for brands: their acceptance/rejection (Angelini & Bradley, 2010; Branchik & O’Leary, 2016; Descubes et al., 2018; Holz Ivory, 2019; Iribure Rodrigues, 2017; Madinga et al., 2020; Ruggs et al., 2018; Um, 2014), advertising recall (Angelini & Bradley, 2010; Orr et al., 2005) or even the impact on people’s purchasing intention (Akermanidis & Venter, 2014; Bond & Farrell, 2020; Holz Ivory, 2019; Orr et al., 2005; Um, 2014). In summary, most of the studies are conducted from a sociological and social perspective, but those that, like this one, focus on the power of advertising to promote a more inclusive society are scarcer (Gong, 2020; McDonald et al., 2020; Oakenfull & Greenlee, 2005; Ragusa, 2005). It is precisely this gap in the literature that underpins the research questions of this paper:

Data collection

As mentioned, Spain has the second-highest proportion of LGBTIQ+ citizens in the world and holds first place as a gay-friendly country for its acceptance and defence of gay rights. These reasons lead us to assume that in advertising imagery, the representation of this collective may be significant and interesting for deeper analysis.

The selection of advertising spots was carried out after viewing all the spots collected in the main database of the Spanish Association of Advertisers (Asociación Española de Anunciantes, AEA); in addition, two complementary databases were added to complete the last decade, that of the El Publicista journal (El Publicista, 2021) and the Sanz'Channel (Sanz, 2016) (N=1408 spots). Finally, our sample consists of 63 spots. Only spots whose message or imagery depicted people and actions representing social relations or events that implicitly or explicitly included sexual and amorous diversity were included. The research has thus tried to identify ads with all the options or relationships beyond heterosexual “conventionality”. It is, overall, a census sample, and consists entirely of commercial communication by brands that directly or indirectly targeted a topic. The sample comprises 63 advertisements because, during our review, this was the total number of relevant audiovisual ads from the total found for the period 1960-2021.

Additionally, it should be added that social campaigns launched by official organizations or associations in defence of LGBTIQ+ rights were excluded, since the object of the research was purely commercial advertising. There were a wide range of brands and kinds of product involved, utilizing content related to the targeted topic: insurance companies, agrifood and drinks businesses, technology and telecom operators, among others (Table 2). The time period of analysis begins in 1960, coinciding with the first broadcasts of Televisión Española and the increase in the number of households with television sets. The spots are not distributed proportionally in each of the decades overall, due to the low number of relevant advertisements among the total number of ads broadcast over the targeted period. Thus, curiously, the same number of relevant advertisements (5) were identified for each of the decades between 1960-2010. On the other hand, for the period 2010-2021, 38 advertisements reflecting sexual and amorous diversity were found. Two issues should be noted: (1) the underrepresentation of gay men and lesbians in advertising is due to the dictatorial regime that existed in Spain until 1975; and (2), not all advertisements use the family and the couple in their creative strategy. A list of all ads selected can be found in Table 2.

Measurements, instruments and analysis

The research opted for was a qualitative study using a content analysis combined with a historical analysis to explore the possible relationship between the evolution of advertising with respect to the phenomenon of liberalization and inclusion of the LGBTIQ+ community, and the consequent sociocultural and legislative progress.

Basic information about the product offered, company and sector was extracted for each advertisement. General aspects were analyzed (target, slogan, etc.) and finally, details about the treatment of gay and lesbian couples in the ads. Table 1 shows the analysis sheet used for classification. Except for some variables about the identification and classification of images or discourse linked to gay men and lesbians, the variables are in relation with those commonly included in works on the treatment of advertising. Typically, this type of research includes information concerning product, sector, claim, target. The work of Molina Rodríguez-Navas et al. (2014) stands out because it laid the foundations of the method of analysis of audiovisual fiction and advertising as sources of knowledge of the past and present. Moreover, they underline the necessity to adapt content analysis to the particular focus of adverts under consideration. For its part, the identification of stereotypes in our approach is mainly supported by variables drawn from the work of Fowler and Thomas (2015) and Olivares et al. (2020), specifically variables 7 to 12 and 15 to 17. In any event, our research work involved some adaptation because previous literature focusing on the gay men and lesbian community is really scarce. Consequently, some original variables have been introduced, with the inclusion of variables 13, 14 and 18 in our analysis. The field of study cannot be analyzed without exploring some information about types of couple, and the traditionality of family and love models. The final analysis sheet was the result of a thorough review of literature and a discussion by three researchers in the first stage. After this, the fourth researcher did an analysis test with 5 ads, randomly chosen. The overall process allowed us to refine the analysis sheet for the goals of this research work. The detailed information for each variable used has been included in the calculation sheet shown in Table 1. Results for each advert under examination were recorded using Microsoft Excel spreadsheets in order to proceed to content analysis using the software Keycoder and Cloudwords, and to enable the calculation of some details such as percentages.

Table 2 shows the list of advertisements analyzed in this research, including the name of the advertised brand, the decade of broadcast and the link to view the spot. Two researchers independently viewed the advertising directories and collections of advertisements described above to create the selection of 63 ads, and avoid bias. In cases where they did not agree on the choice of an advertisement, a third researcher made the decision on its suitability. However, this situation happened for two ads only.

Analysis associated with each decade

1960-1969: Franco's dictatorship

Gay men and lesbians are made invisible, being a taboo subject. In none of the advertisements viewed is there any allusion to the diversity of sexual orientations. The family model shown is univocal and traditional, with the exclusive representation of heterosexual couples. To a greater extent, young couples are shown, and depending on the product advertised, they are shown with or without children. Gender roles are usually shown in a differentiated way, which is congruent if we take into account the historical and cultural context: Francoism.

All the advertisements that were broadcast went through Franco's censorship, and no prejudices or stereotypes were broadcast through advertising. Therefore, in this decade there is a relationship between advertising treatment and the legislative and social treatment of gay men and lesbians, making them completely invisible.

1970-1979: End of the dictatorship and early years of democracy in Spain

Advertisements continue to perpetuate a great difference between the gender roles of men and women, either through their content or by the way in which their storyline is delivered. For example, the mother continues to be assigned the responsibility of childcare, and the father the ownership of objects such as cars (as seen in the Nesquik ad, No. 6). In addition, it is emphasized that products such as alcohol are consumed exclusively by men (as in the case of González Byass's Soberano Cognac, with the slogan “It's a man's thing”, ads Nos. 9 and 10). Particularly striking is the second González Byass ad (No. 10), which even shows a scene normalizing gender violence.

In this context, an univocal and traditional family and couple model is shown. Even in advertisements that claim to be inclusive, such as Coca Cola's (No. 8), the diversity of sexual orientations is ignored. Therefore, there is still a relationship between advertising treatment and the legislative and social treatment of gay men and lesbians.

1980-1989: Movements and social changes

Advertising in the 1980s experienced a process of modernization, in line with the rest of Spanish society.

As far as gender roles are concerned, there are ads in which a clear differentiation is evident (No. 11, by Monky; and No. 15, by Johnson), along with others in which they appear practically undifferentiated (No. 13, by Riera-Marsá; and No. 14, by Princesa). In the latter, a greater co-responsibility of men in domestic tasks can be observed compared to previous decades (No. 13). However, it is true that sometimes these men are still presented with a humorous and ridiculing tone, as if they are facing impossible tasks to perform (this is the case with No. 12, Scotch Brite).

In addition to all of the above, there is a greater normalization of sexuality and eroticism. For this purpose, puns and double meanings are used (advertisement No. 14, from Galletas Princesa). However, for the time being, the family model seems to remain unique and the couples represented are heterosexual and young.

We should remember that, in the 1980s, the process of protesting to demand rights and equality between heterosexuals and gay men and lesbians continued. The World Health Organization still considered gay men and lesbians “sick”; therefore, there was still no effective integration into society. In other words, there was still a relationship between the legal and sociocultural context and the reality reflected in advertisements.

1990-1999: Social openness and the evolution of equality

It should be noted that, as far as sexuality is concerned, the path of openness started in the previous decade continues. Usually, double meanings are still used when referring to this type of topic (No. 16, from Starlux; and No. 19, from Rumba Total), and advertisers manage to connect these ambiguities with the promotion of the product (for example, a woman with her partner saying “this one does it the way I like it”, to promote the Starlux granulated broth).

During this decade, equality between gender roles began to be reflected more effectively. Men appear more frequently as jointly responsible for household chores and childcare (advertisements Nos. 16 and 18).

In addition, announcements begin to be made that little by little highlight the uniqueness and independence of being women. Ad No. 20, from Woman magazine, is a good example. Although this modernization was rather lax, it opened the door for women to want to feel beautiful in themselves, not for their husbands (the attitude changes regarding submission, from advertisements such as No. 1) and, the most interesting thing in our field study, opened the door to women who do not like men.

In the same way, it is worth noting the clear contrast in children's social relations between the advertisements of the 1960s/1970s and those made in the 1990s: in the former, boys and girls are shown playing separately, in different groups and with different toys (spots No. 2 and No.7), while in the latter they are shown playing together and cooperating (adverts Nos. 3 and 17).

The evolution in the concept of family and love follows the same lines as the evolution in gender roles: a lax openness. A representative case is No. 18, in which the Renault Laguna automobile is promoted and a father appears as the sole caregiver for his son, without a partner; therefore, it could favour selective perception by the viewer to consider him as a gay man, heterosexual or bisexual. However, given the social context in which it is inserted, the advertiser's intention was probably simply to awaken the patriarchal protective instinct.

Finally, the ad for the compilation album Rumba Total deserves a special mention. Although advertising about the transsexual collective is not the subject of this research, ad No. 19 is probably one of the first to allude to the LGBTIQ+ community in a clear way. In it, Cristina “La Veneno”, a popular transgender woman of the 1990s, is presented as the protagonist, and a play on words is made between the pack of songs offered and her genitalia, recreating the famous leg-crossing scene from the movie Basic Instinct.

Taking into account the above and that during this decade the depathologization of gay men and lesbianism took place, we can conclude that during the decade there was also a relationship between social advances and advertising treatment.

2000-2009: Normalization and acceptance at the social and legislative levels

With the arrival of the new millennium, the normalization of gender and sexual diversity in advertising is consolidated. For example, sexuality and nudity began to be shown more explicitly, without the need to use ambiguities as in previous decades. The approval of same-sex marriage coincided with a greater normalization, in advertising terms, of the imagery related to the collective.

As far as gender roles are concerned, the co-responsibility of household chores is fully achieved as far as their representation in advertising is concerned, going beyond the “aesthetic chores on camera” (cooking and taking care of the children, basically): one example, among others, is Bosch ad No. 22, which shows a man doing the ironing. In addition, equality is starting to move more in the direction of femvertising. Nevertheless, ads such as Heineken's (No. 24) continue to depict differences by gender: girls are interested in clothes and boys interested in beer.

These are turbulent times for reflecting family diversity in advertising. In a very clear way, there coexists an advertising that reflects the most traditional society and another “more transgressive” one that represents the social evolution regarding the gay men and lesbian collective. Thus, we find advertisements that, even though they are clearly endeavouring to reflect the variety of couples in love, as they see it, do not show gay and lesbian couples (advertisement No. 23, IKEA). Others directly sexualize relationships between women and objectify them (ad No. 21, Musicón del Verano). In the most extreme case, we find companies such as the communication group Intereconomia (No. 25) that punish the demands of the rights of the collective, using an advertising style that tries to instill “fear” (Figure 1). That is to say, some advertisements are responsible for reflecting the discontent generated in part of the population by the approval of same-sex marriage.

Figure 1. An advertisement broadcast on Intereconomía TV channel on the occasion of Gay Pride, taken from a blog site online.

(Original source: Las Malas Lenguas (Intereconomia TV, 2009).) Translated text from the ad: Do you want this to be an example for your children?.

However, the majority do support an inclusive and diverse society. Therefore, in this instance, according to the spots in our sample there is not a complete relationship between advertising’s treatment of the gay men and lesbian community and the legislative framework.

2010-2021: Current decade

The period 2010-2021 sees a notable increase in the number of appearances of gay men and lesbian couples and individuals in audiovisual advertising. However, although the growth is considerable compared to previous decades, the percentage with respect to the total number of advertisements (of a commercial nature) is still not very significant.

Based on the content analysis, Table 4 shows the congruence between historical contexts and advertising related to the gay men and lesbian community.

First, it is worth noting the wide variety of products that include depictions of the gay men and lesbian collective. We find everything from dating apps to soft drinks and cleaning products; naturally, this diversity is reflected in the wide range of sectors present in the sample (Figure 2). The sector that includes the most depictions of the gay men and lesbian community is beauty and hygiene (23.7%), followed by food and entertainment (18.42% each).

Figure 2. Weighting of each sector in the sample of advertisements for the years 2010-2021.

Source: Own elaboration.

The research on slogans shows that reference is made to the gay men and lesbian collective depending on the tone of the advertisement. That is to say, if it has an educational or vindicatory function (as in the case of Burger King's ad No. 50 and La Sexta TV channel's ad No. 43), words that aim to empower the collective, such as “pride”, are usually included. The use of this type of slogan tends to have a seasonal character, being especially frequent during the LGBTIQ+ Pride celebration (end of June). However, there is another group of ads that simply integrate and normalize gay men and lesbian protagonists within the story told in the ad (for example, No. 28), so the slogan is usually related to the product (Figure 3).

Figure 3. Wordcloud of the main words used in the slogans.

Source: Own elaboration.

Regarding the relationship between the representations of the gay men and lesbian community in the advertising spots and the fact that both were the target audience of the brands, we observed that gay men and lesbian couples and individuals are reflected in advertising regardless of whether or not they are the target. Specifically, only in 2 of the 38 cases that show situations or environments related to the collective, is sexuality a relevant segmentation criterion (spots Nos. 49 and 53). The rest are products aimed at the general public, of which gay men and lesbians are only a part.

On the other hand, the variable “explicitness of the message”, that is, the way in which the reference to the gay men and lesbian community is produced (whether directly or through ambiguities and double meanings) indicates that 71% of the ads in the sample do so explicitly. The words and expressions exchanged by the partners (dialogues showing mutual affection, use of romantic appellatives such as “sweetheart”, etc.) as well as the images (the way they look at each other, hug and kiss, for example) are the instrument for this. The remaining 29% of ads show the relationship between the protagonists in an ambiguous way. The main motivation to provoke this ambiguity is probably to favour a more selective perception, i.e. that the viewer is the one who assigns the label of “friends” or “couple” according to his or her reality. This issue leads us to evidence that the relationship between the characters is often ambiguous (No. 27, No. 48 and No. 54).

As for stereotypes, it is worth remembering that the three ways of expression are the storyline way (reproducing clichés about gay men and lesbians, such as promiscuity), the visual way (reproducing clichés about their clothing, appearance, gestures, etc) and the sound way (stereotypes about the way they speak and express themselves). The results show that we have gone from an almost total invisibilization in previous decades, to an inclusion of the collective made from respect, and with the absence of these clichés. Thus, the ads from this decade reflect a diverse family model. However, there is a discriminatory advertisement (spot No. 61), but it is an isolated and specific case (Figure 4), therefore, the gay men and lesbian community as a sexual and amorous option ends up becoming visible and normalized.

Figure 4. Sequence of stills from commercial No. 61, broadcast on Intereconomía TV.

Translated text from the ad: Image 2: Gay Pride Day; Image 4: 364 days of Pride for ordinary people.

Regarding the types of couples represented, it is worth mentioning that we find a great diversity of ways of showing them: while in some spots only one typology is shown (for example, a gay couple), in others the range is wider and more diversity is shown (for example, gay men and lesbians and heterosexuals being co-protagonists). Specifically, in 47.37% of the ads, gay men and lesbian couples share space with heterosexual couples (Figure 5).

Figure 5. Representation of gay men and lesbian´ couples.

Source: Own elaboration.

In the same line, the distribution of percentages of the representation of traditional family models in the decades studied gives a concrete view on the evolution of openness to amorous diversity in the last targeted period (2010-2021). The traditional family and couple model is represented in 68% of ads while the diverse family and couple models appear only in 16% of ads in the years from 1960 to 2009. It should be emphasized that 16% of advertisements without a clear model are included. By contrast, the most contemporary era (2010-2021) evokes diverse family and couple models in 100% of cases.

Another noteworthy variable where there are contrasting data between decades is gender roles. First, the roles are well differentiated (totally or sufficiently) in earlier ads while in recent years, advertisers opt for portraying no differences in most of the cases (Table 5).

It can be determined that in the last decade analyzed, advertising is mostly related to social and legal changes in Spain in terms of affectionate relationships. Thus, a respectful inclusion of the gay men and lesbians collective is made, trying to reflect an increasingly common social reality, so that brands can address any type of consumer regardless of their sexual orientation.

Limitations and future research lines

There is no doubt that in future years, Queervertising will be a fertile area in terms of research. The main limitation of this work is the difficulty in establishing a determinant cause-effect relationship between legislation, movements and social milestones linked to gay men and lesbians and their projection in advertising imagery. However, the proposed methodology has evidenced solid relationships between these dimensions and clarifies the evolution over time of the inclusion of gay men and lesbians in advertising, as well as significant changes in the treatment of this group.

This work has had to focus on gay men and lesbians without it being possible to consider other groups such as transsexuals or bisexuals due to the lack of written or audio text, symbolism or images of them in the advertising under analysis. Therefore, it is presented as a future line of research of interest to complete the vision of the phenomenon studied.

Likewise, it would be useful to make an international comparison incorporating other European countries or even contrasting the results with countries with less legislative progress and recognition of the rights of the LGBTIQ+ community.

Despite the usefulness of content analysis, a final future line of research would be to triangulate the data to include the perception and motivations of three main groups. Firstly, by approaching companies directly through a focus group or in-depth interviews. Likewise, it would be interesting to know how advertising copywriters take on this challenge of inclusive society in advertisements. Finally, by involving gay men and lesbians and heterosexual audiences in the fieldwork with the aim of delving into and comparing their perceptions and feelings regarding ads.

Practical implications

Corporate advertising changes and evolves along with society. The most relevant practical implication would be to make brand owners aware of the suitability of exercising their social function in a more disruptive and less cautious way, becoming agents promoting changes and innovative perspectives in society and positively relating their brands as gay-friendly. Urging advertisers and researchers to work for a fairer and more inclusive society through their messages is a complex and ambitious, but unavoidable and necessary challenge.