Apple Responds to GLAAD Concerns About Problematic Advertisement
September 25, 2009
UPDATE: We heard back from an Apple publicity representative who told us this ad has not run since 2006 and is no longer featured on the company’s website. We explained why the ad was problematic and urged Apple NOT to produce ads with similar themes in the future. They assured us the company is committed to diversity and thanked us for the outreach. GLAAD will continue to encourage companies to produce fair, accurate and inclusive advertisements.
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After being alerted by constituents about a problematic ad for Apple‘s iMovie, we investigated these complaints and were disappointed to see the usually witty Mac advertisers resort to mocking transgender people in order to sell their product.
The ad features model Gisele Bundchen, who is supposed to be the embodiment of a home movie made using iMovie. After the Mac presents Gisele, the PC presents a person wearing a dress identical to Gisele’s, in a wig, with no breasts, a five o’clock shadow and an abundance of exposed chest hair.
The ad ends with the line:
“Work in progress?”
GLAAD is concerned that Apple would resort to anti-transgender stereotypes as an adverting strategy. We have reached out to the company and asked that they pull the ad. We will keep you updated on our communications with Apple.
Related Posts:Nominees Announced for 1st Annual GLAAD Media Awards in Advertising
September 14, 2009
The nominees for the 1st Annual GLAAD Media Awards in Advertising presented by Southwest Airlines were announced on Monday.
Corporations like Progressive, Southwest, Wells Fargo, Travelocity and many others will be celebrated for their fair, accurate, and inclusive representations of LGBT people in marketing and advertising campaigns.
“As with other forms of media, advertising has the power to change hearts and minds,” said GLAAD President Jarrett Barrios. “Companies that promote fair, accurate and inclusive images of the LGBT community in advertising send an important message to their customers, to corporations and to any consumer who sees their ads. We will be recognizing those companies that do just that, and in so doing, set a standard to which other companies may aspire.”
GLAAD will also honor Subaru for the corporation’s longstanding and public commitment to the LGBT consumer, as well as Mitchell Gold and Bob Williams for including LGBT stories in advertising for their company Mitchell Gold + Bob Williams, and for their personal efforts to advocate for LGBT equality.
For a complete list of nominees and ads, please visit www.glaad.org/advertisingawards/nominees.
The 1st Annual GLAAD Media Awards in Advertising presented by Southwest Airlines will be held in New York City on October 27, 2009 at New World Stages, 340 W. 50th Street. To purchase tickets for the event, please visit www.glaad.org/advertisingawards.
Related Posts:UPDATE: Sleep Train and Others Clarify Record on KRXQ Advertising
June 9, 2009
GLAAD has received a few updates about KRXQ and their advertisers. Our extensive coverage on advertisers either pulling or not renewing contracts can be found here.
This update comes after GLAAD spoke with KRXQ yesterday, which you can read about here.
Sleep Train provided GLAAD with the following statement to share with its readers:
Thank you for taking the time to write us regarding the comments made on the Rob, Arnie and Dawn show on KRXQ. Rob, Arnie and Dawn have done a good job endorsing for us for many years. However, this time they went too far. We do not condone their comments in any way and we have made it clear to KRXQ’s management, Rob, Arnie and Dawn that their conduct was unacceptable.
Sleep Train is proud of our history of diversity and the inclusion of all the communities we serve. As a result, we have pulled our ads off of KRXQ until further notice.
We have also received other statements from Red Bull, Hawaiian Airlines and State Farm.
Red Bull sent us a statement addressing their advertising relationship with KRXQ:
Red Bull is not an advertiser on KRQX. Thank you for bringing this matter to our attention.
We also were provided with a statement from Hawaiian Airlines who reportedly received a number of emails this past weekend. The airline states:
Hawaiian Airlines is not an advertiser on the station.
State Farm had a similar statement as Red Bull and Hawaiian Airlines. The company writes:
Thank you for your comments regarding State Farm running advertisements on station KRXQ in Sacramento. We have read your concerns and those of others with similar concerns. We take very seriously each comment we receive.
State Farm has not advertised on KRXQ in 2009. Once this particular show ran, we discovered that the station had not removed our company logo from their website and that mistake has been rectified.
Please stay tuned for more details. Please check back with us for updates on this developing story.
Have an update to share with GLAAD? Send us a tweet on our Twitter account @glaad.
UPDATE: GLAAD Speaks with KRXQ Management
June 8, 2009
For those just now learning about this issue, please go here to read more about this evolving controversy.
At 11:45am EST, Cindi Creager, GLAAD’s Director of National News, and I spoke with the station manager at KRXQ. GLAAD successfully made the case for a transgender person and a parent of a transgender child to appear on the Rob, Arnie and Dawn show. We are right now in the process of securing Trans Youth Family Allies Executive Director Kim Pearson and Pam’s House Blend contributor and transgender advocate Autumn Sandeen for the broadcast.
As yesterday’s statement noted, KRXQ will be airing a special show on Thursday, June 11 at 7:30am PST.
It should be noted that Autumn was one of the very first reporters to shine attention on the May 28th segment alongside Huffington Post blogger Michael Rowe.
KRXQ has assured us that the June 11th follow-up show will be conducted in a “frank and positive manner.” It was explicitly stated to us that we will hear an apology from the radio hosts and listeners will be able to call in. As always, we remind everyone to be respectful and civil when calling into the show.
GLAAD has additionally suggested a transgender media training with our community partners. KRXQ was receptive to the suggestion and we will further discuss this following Thursday’s radio broadcast.
Media have been continuing to follow the story, garnering national coverage. Local media outlets in Sacramento have been especially helpful in covering this story – including The Sacramento Press, FOX40 and The Sacramento Bee. Community blogs have also been extremely effective in sharing updates on this issue and mobilizing readers to take action.
Finally, it should be noted that yet another advertiser has dropped their contract with the station. Guitar Center Executive Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer, Norman Hajjar, directly reached out to GLAAD following emails from concerned community members.
Norman has provided us with this statement to share with our readers:
Last Thursday, I asked our media agency to speak to KRXQ about the outrageous comments made by their morning on-air team. I wasn’t satisfied with the station’s response. So we decided to pull our dollars from the station.
It’s simple: wrong is wrong. We don’t want our brand associated with such epic insensitivity.
Guitar Center now becomes the 11th confirmed advertiser to pull their contract from KRXQ. You can read more about the others here and here.
Please stay tuned for more details. Please check back with us for updates on this developing story.
Have an update to share with GLAAD? Send us a tweet on our Twitter account @glaad.
Kick-Off Reception for Advertising Media Program
May 8, 2009
GLAAD is gearing up for the official start of our Advertising Media Program and we have an exciting reception planned to kick-off the program on Monday, May 18, 2009. During the launch event, GLAAD will provide an overview of our advocacy work in advertising as well as honor Levi’s Brand and Wells Fargo for their commitment to LGBT-inclusive ads.
The launch reception will be held Monday, May 18, 2009 at the Alvin Ailey Dance Studio (405 West 55th St, New York, NY). We hope you can join in what will be a great networking opportunity for LGBT advertising and marketing professionals! Click here to buy tickets for just $25!
We’ve already started our anti-defamation work in advertising – as reported last week on glaadBLOG, GLAAD successfully advocated that a Virginia used car company pull offensive ads that referred to same-sex flirting as “not smart” from the airwaves and their Web site.
Leveraging GLAAD’s media advocacy and anti-LGBT defamation resources, GLAAD’s Advertising Media Program will monitor all forms of advertising and work to ensure fair and accurate representations of the LGBT community or demand action when defamation occurs. GLAAD will also proactively advance inclusion of the LGBT community in mainstream advertising through advocacy work at advertising agencies and corporate advertising departments. The Program will maintain the online library formerly owned by Commercial Closet Association of over 4,000 LGBT-inclusive ads.
The GLAAD staff, GLAAD Board or Directors and President Neil G. Giuliano recently rang the NASDAQ closing bell and spoke about the upcoming program as well as the estimated $712 billion in buying power of the LGBT community.
And see coverage of GLAAD closing NASDAQ on CNBC, Bloomberg, and FOX Business News.
To celebrate the launch of the program, GLAAD will honor Levi’s Brand and Wells Fargo with Special Recognition Awards.
Levi’s Brand won the 2008 Images in Advertising Award for Outstanding Commercial for a commercial which depicts a young male pulling on a pair of Levi’s jeans as the street below him comes crashing through his floor, leaving him face-to-face with an attractive stranger in a nearby telephone booth. The two men walk off while holding hands. Levi’s has had a long involvement with the LGBT community as exemplified by the “Support of Gay Marriage” campaign, the “Inside Out” campaign and the recent “Logo Unbuttoned” campaign.
Levi’s ads perpetuate the company’s history of LGBT inclusive business practices and marketing outreach. In 1992, Levi Strauss & Co. became the first Fortune 500 company to extend full benefits to the same-sex domestic partners of employees.
Wells Fargo has consistently supported the LGBT community by being one of the first financial institutions to reach out to the community with targeted advertising and sponsorship of LGBT causes and organizations. Wells Fargo has a long standing commitment to speak to our community through advertising for not only financial related products but also in company recruiting and fostering an inclusive workplace. As a result of its long standing support to LGBT causes, anti-gay activists initiated a boycott of Wells Fargo in 2005. In spite of anti-gay activists, the company remains a strong ally to our community.
Tickets for the reception are $25 and will be credited to tickets for the Fall 2009 Advertising Awards. They can be purchased at www.glaad.org/events. Sponsors of the event include ABSOLUT® VODKA, DRAFTFCB, Levi’s Brand and Wells Fargo. Media partners include Gay City News, PinkBananaMedia.com and TheMenEvent.com.
CarMax Agrees to Pull Problematic Advertisement Following GLAAD Outreach
April 30, 2009
GLAAD constituents alerted us this week to a problematic advertisement by CarMax, a Richmond, Virginia based used car company with 100 stores across the country. After reviewing the ad we immediately reached out to the company.
The ad, titled, “Smart: Pick-up Artist” depicts a man in a coffee shop trying to get the attention of a person he believes to be a female customer with long hair. He stands behind the person and says:
“Do you believe in love at first sight or should I walk by again?”
But when the person with long hair turns around and appears to be male, the man making the advance reacts with shock. The picture freezes on the both men’s reaction and the words “not smart,” appear on the screen. The announcer says:
That is not smart. What is smart is shopping at CarMax. With thousands of cars priced at 12-thousand or less the right one for you is ready today.
Then a CarMax employee says to the customer who had made the earlier advance and is now looking at a car on a lot full of cars:
“So is she the one?”
He responds:
“I love her.”
Announcer then concludes with:
“Now more than ever the smart choice is CarMax, the way car buying should be.”
GLAAD called public relations representatives at CarMax and asked that the ad be removed from their website and pulled from the local markets where it is airing. We explained that it gave the impression that a man hitting on a man or being gay is not ok or “not smart,” as the ad said. It also played on troubling gender stereotypes about being “fooled” and then “shocked” after realizing someone is not the “right” sex.
CarMax representatives listened to our concerns and agreed to pull the ad from the website and remove it from further airings in local markets. They also discussed potentially collaborating with GLAAD on future ad campaigns to ensure they are in line with fair, accurate and inclusive standards.
This is the link to the removed ad but you can view other ads that were part of the same campaign.
You can view the CarMax diversity policy here.
It states:
Our commitment to diversity
We are committed to welcoming, respecting, and celebrating the unique attributes of our Associates, customers, and communities.
We recognize the value that diversity contributes to our organization and the competitive advantage we can maintain by having a broad range of talents, perspectives, and ideas with a commitment to continuously improving our business.
GLAAD appreciates that CarMax listened to our concerns and realized that the “pick-up artist” ad was not in line with its own diversity policy. We applaud the company for pulling the offensive content and look forward to keeping an an open dialogue.
CarMax sent us a note this morning confirming the ad would be pulled and indicating their willingness to communicate with us in the future:
CarMax appreciates the open dialogue with GLAAD.
We want to continue this dialogue and build upon that relationship.
