Commercial Closet Association (yes, one of our clients) recently announced the nominees for the Fourth Annual Images in Advertising Awards. This year’s list includes an interesting mix of the usual suspects and the unexpected. In the former category are companies such as Orbitz, Levi Strauss, Subaru and American Airlines who are well known for their advertising to our community. In the latter category are unexpected honorees such as Hershey, the San Francisco 49ers (the first time a sports team has been nominated), Best Buy and Microsoft. It’s a fascinating list and you can check it out here.
In the wake of the Heinz ad debacle in the UK, Commercial Closet’s focus on those folks who understand how best to leverage the tools of advertising to reach us effectively and respectfully is timely. It’s also a really useful counterpoint to the confusion caused by Heinz’s decision to pull their gay-positive deli mayonnaise ad that aired briefly in England. Ironically, the Heinz ad earns a 100 score from Commercial Closet on the organization’s brand new Web site (you can view it here).
At a time when gay and lesbian communications issues are caught up in coverage about gay marriage and attacks from fringe elements claiming equal marriage rights will bring about the end of civilization as we know it, it really is an honor to be nominated for advertising that gets it right. I hope that the companies honored with nominations this year will both tout their nominations this year and keep developing effective, appropriate advertising that sells products while respecting all people.
The winners will be announced in an event (hosted by Frank DeCaro) at New World Stages in New York City on July 28th. We’ll follow-up later this summer with an update on the winners.
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