Abstract
In this chapter, we look at the representations of masculinity in gay-friendly printed adverts and commercials, focusing on the tensions between marketing and socio-political discourses that occur within them. We also offer a comparative perspective between gay-friendly advertising in Italy and in the USA, starting from two specific campaigns: “Findus Piramide” which consists of a series of commercials for the brand Findus broadcast in Italy in 2014 and Tiffany’s campaign “Will You?”, appearing in commercials and printed adverts in the USA in 2015. These examples reflect a new trend in advertising where non-heterosexual orientations are represented in a positive way and demonstrate that the representation of gay-friendly advertising is connected to marketing strategies and structured differently according to the cultural context and its acceptance of LGBT issues.
Federici was the lead author for parts 1, 3.2 and 4 while Bernardelli led on parts 2 and 3.1.
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Notes
- 1.
The campaign was produced by Havas Worldwide and planned by Havas Media, Milan.
- 2.
- 3.
Letter to the Bishops of the Catholic Church on the pastoral care of homosexual persons http://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/congregations/cfaith/documents/rc_con_cfaith_doc_19861001_homosexual-persons_en.html
- 4.
Different newspapers commented on the ad, for example, Il Fatto Quotidiano (B. Ballardini, “Findus, 4 schiaffi a Barilla” “Findus 4 slaps to Barilla” June 11, 2014 where the title clearly refers to Barilla’s chairman’s declaration that gay families did not represent his company’s values prompting a boycott of Barilla’s products), Il Giornale (G. Masini, “Findus sfratta il capitano per far posto alle coppie gay” “Findus fires the Captain to give a job to gay couples” August 11, 2014 where the title refers to the previous testimonial of the brand who was an old sailor), Il Corriere della sera (E. Tebano, “Il posto del barbuto capitano Findus? L’hanno preso due ragazzi gay” “The place of bearded Captain Findus? It has been taken by two gay young men) both referring to the old image of the sea captain used for the brand, which was traditional and part of a classic image of masculinity, changed with the representation of a gay couple, but only for these new products.
- 5.
“Quattro salti” is the name of the product line.
- 6.
For more examples of LGBT commercials and adverts see www.commercialcloset.com
- 7.
- 8.
In Italy this campaign has caused a strong reaction by the Conservative Party (NcD Nuovo Centro Destra) who affirmed that the printed ad showing the gay couple cannot be utilised because it will contrast with the identity of Italian people (meaning being gay means being anti-Italian). See M. Winkler’s article “Tiffany, la campagna gay-friendly? Per il governo è passibile di denuncia” Il Fatto quotidiano Jan 13, 2015.
- 9.
Greimas ’s (1989) visual semiotics distinguishes between figurative and plastic levels of analysis of an image. Figurative categories permit the identification of objects, figures and representations carrying a recognisable signifier (the figure of a man, an object). The concept of plastic signifier is used to analyse images from the point of view of three main subcategories: topological categories (rectilinear like upper/lower or felt/right and curvilinear like peripheral/central and closing/enclosed), chromatic categories (colours, brightness and saturation) and eidetic categories (shapes and forms).
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Federici, E., Bernardelli, A. (2018). Masculinity and Gay-Friendly Advertising: A Comparative Analysis Between the Italian and US Market. In: Baker, P., Balirano, G. (eds) Queering Masculinities in Language and Culture. Palgrave Studies in Language, Gender and Sexuality. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-349-95327-1_3
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