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Lesbian/Bi Women in Commercials, Part 1

After years of having the dubious honor of being used mainly for shock and titillation value in commercials, lesbians and bisexual women have slowly begun to see some progress in the way advertisers represent us.

(For an excellent overview of the representation of all LGBT people in the commercial world, check out the exhaustive collection of print and video advertisements collected by GLAAD’s Advertising Media Program, formerly known as The Commercial Closet.)

If any single advertisement embodies the way in which lesbians have been most typically (and stereotypically) portrayed in commercials in the past decade, it would be Miller Lite’s 2003 “Catfight” commercial, in which a group of men dream up the perfect beer commercial.

Their vision is of two women fighting over whether or not Miller Lite is “less-filling” or “tastes great.” What starts as verbal combat quickly devolves into clothes-shredding violence in a fountain, mud, and, finally, a vat of wet cement. The men determine that there’s only one way to end this amazing video. Can you guess what it is? Watch the video below to find out.

“Catfight” tries to have it both ways by simultaneously exploiting “lesbian” sexuality (everyone knows that real lesbians prefer lube wrestling), then cutting to the annoyed reaction of two female viewers who find the spectacle ridiculous. It’s as if Miller is telling us, “We know this is lame, but we’re doing in anyway, just for fun. We don’t really mean it, and, seriously, we get why we shouldn’t be doing it. But it’s still funny, right?”

Women wrestling in mud or water as a metaphor for lesbian sex does have its appeal, but not when it’s the only representation of queer women in TV ads. Fortunately, we’ve seen some definite progress in the number and diversity of commercials referencing or including queer women since the “Catfight” ad originally aired.

One of the most positive shifts has been the more frequent appearance of real-life lesbians in commercials. An out lesbian was one of the “faces” of Avon in the 2009 Superbowl commercials, and out comedian Ellen DeGeneres has starred in some of the most hilarious and memorable commercials ever produced by American Express. Rocker Melissa Etheridge and wife Tammy Lynn Etheridge have shilled for Cartier, and out actress Jane Lynch (Best in Show) is co-starring with Julia Louis-Dreyfus (The New Adventures of Old Christine) in a new slate of funny Healthy Choice commercials.

While its true that out lesbian athletes (most famously, Wimbledon champion Martina Navratilova) have lost out on millions in product endorsements over the years, progress has even begun to find its way into sports marketing, as evidenced by out former WNBA champ Sheryl Swoopes being the first female athlete to have a shoe named after her (Nike’s Air Swoopes).

In addition to commercials that star real-life lesbians, we’ve also seen a shift in those that portray lesbian and bisexual characters, be they women getting married to one another, picking each other up in bars, or hooking up in the increasingly gay-friendly skies.

In the first of a series of articles examining the representation of lesbians and bisexual women in commercials, AfterEllen.com takes a look at those that, for better or worse, bank on our images. Using Miller Lite’s notorious “Catfight” commercial as our inspiration (and just because it’s more fun than using a boring star-rating system), we’ve scored the commercials below on a scale of zero to five mud-wrestling lesbians for their ability to positively represent us and our lives. (The more mud-wrestling lesbians, the better!)

Commercial: “Inner Beauty” (USA)

Date:2008

Advertiser: CoverGirl

Description: Out comedian Ellen DeGeneres gets easy, breezy and beautiful in a make-up commercial that embodies her humor and style.

Analysis: 2008 was a productive year for out comedian Ellen DeGeneres. She turned 50, married actress Portia de Rossi in a high-profile wedding, and became a spokesmodel for CoverGirl cosmetics. And she blasted archaic stereotypes about lesbianism, femininity and beauty with one simple little television ad for Simply Ageless Foundation. So maybe she did a few push ups between photographs at the ad campaign shoot. Perhaps she was just taking very literally CoverGirl’s claim that she captures the spirit of the make-up line by being “witty, wise, strong and simply age-defying.”

Now if we can just get her wife, de Rossi, back into shampoo commercials. Her hair-flipping skills in the old ads for L’Oreal Nutra Vive were unparalleled, and, remember, she’s worth it!

Score: This stylish commercial celebrating the (inner and outer) beauty of arguably the most famous out lesbian in the world easily earns 5 out of 5 mud-wrestling lesbians.

Commercial: “The Tragedy” (Australia, New Zealand)

Date:2007

Advertiser: Jim Beam (Fortune Brands, Inc.)

Description: A feminine young woman guilelessly explains that she simply likes girls!

Analysis: She’s never had a boyfriend, she’s just always preferred girls! No offense guys, but blokes just don’t do it for her.

Never before has lesbianism been portrayed as less threatening (or more mindless, for that matter) than in this Australian ad for Jim Beam. Yet somehow, lesbianism is not just “tragic,” but the tragedy.

Despite the insulting (and ignorant, are we to assume that lesbians don’t drink Jim Beam?) assessment of the situation, the narrator’s grim tone indicates an admission of defeat. The actress’s innocent smile (and her co-stars knowing grin) don’t invite a male participant or even suggest awareness of the fact that anyone would have a problem with a woman “liking girls.”

Score: This needlessly hyperbolic ad earns 2 out of 5 mud-wrestling lesbians – one for portraying two happy, out lesbians being unabashedly physically affectionate with one another (as the saying goes, one man’s “tragedy” is another lesbian’s smoking hot love affair), and the other for starring Home and Away hottie Esther Anderson, whose character Charlie recently fell for another woman on the Australian soap.

Commercial: “Undress an Orange” (Israel)

Date:1998-99

Advertiser: Tapuz (Community for Citrus Fruits)

Description: An exotic stranger comes to an Orthodox part of town, steals an orange, frightens the locals and seduces a beautiful woman with her erotic orange-devouring skills.

Analysis: This Israeli ad seems to suggest that when a beautiful woman wearing a regulation white tank top rides into town on two wheels, all hell can and will break loose. Old men and children stare as she shamelessly opens up a juicy orange and dives in. The beautiful young woman watching her decides to peel off a layer of her own (revealing – surprise – a white camisole) and, despite the warning of an older woman in traditional garb, goes for some truly forbidden fruit.

The good news is that the rebellious spirit of both women is portrayed as progressive, positive, and liberating.

As the commercial unfolds, one wonders what Tapuz is selling. Oranges? Travel? Scooters? Lesbianism? Who cares! Whatever it is, it has the power to bring color to an otherwise drab world and send two beautiful women motoring off into the sunset together. It even has the power to make time move backwards! (Did you notice the town clock spinning in reverse?)

Writer Jeanette Winterson was right: Oranges are not the only fruit.

Score: This ad scores 5 out of 5 mud-wrestling lesbians for correlating lesbianism with freedom, adventure and happiness.

Commercial: “Marriage” (Australia)

Date:1997

Advertiser: Johnnie Walker Red (Diageo)

Description: This ad features a long, slow and romantic build-up to what turns out to be a big fat lesbian wedding.

Analysis: The lush production values, use of a classic song (“Que Sera Sera”) and attention to every little detail of the wedding create an aura of classic romanticism. The father-daughter bonding (over a nice glass of Scotch) in the limo lends the stamp of familial approval, which makes it all the more magical when the bride marches down the aisle to stand next to another equally-alluring bride. The tag line (“Every revolution starts with a splash of Red”) signals that the advertisers are pleased to be a part of the LGBT “revolution,” and willing to upset those who don’t approve of their blatantly pro-gay message.

The company also gets kudos from us for naming this commercial “Marriage” not “Gay Marriage.” It’s hard to believe that this progressive Australian ad came ten years before that silly commercial for Jim Beam, isn’t it?

Clearly, backwards-movement in representing LGBT people in advertising is the real “tragedy.”

Score: This sophisticated gay take on a traditional heterosexual ritual earns a score of 5 out of 5 mud-wrestling lesbians.

Commercial: “Mr. Tree” (Canada)

Date:2008

Advertiser: Mac’s Convenience Stores

Description: Two scantily-clad women frolic in the forest, making half-hearted advances at one another before discovering that they’ve got some uninvited male company. When they realize the tree next to them is part (voyeuristic) male, they attack him with axes and drink his bodily fluids as all three of them groan in pleasure. No, it’s not a snuff film. It’s an ad for a Canadian Slurpee.

Analysis: Can a commercial be a hallucinogenic? And if so, can you get a hit of it through your computer screen?

This puzzling online ad for a Canadian convenience store chain doesn’t know if it wants to be surreal, soft-core pornographic, or old-fashioned funny. It simultaneously aims for all three, but misses the mark on each.

Yet somehow it won a 2008 digital marketing award for online advertising for tapping into “the libido, sense of humor and media habits of the young male.”

We get it. Lesbians and bisexual women aren’t the target audience for this ad anyway. So it’s no surprise that it reverts to the oldest lesbian stereotype in the book, that of some silly girls pawing harmlessly at one another, just waiting for a man to enter the picture and bring the real sexual heat to the scene. Yes, in this case he’s only half a man (literally – the other half is a tree), but the message is still clear. And don’t confuse the axe-wielding with some sort of symbolic lesbian castration fantasy: they are only hacking into him because they desperately need his delicious juice!

Our loss, however, is a victory for a small degree of another kind of truth in advertising: This ad promotes Mac’s new Froster flavor, “wtf”.

Score: For a lame portrayal of sexless “lesbian” foreplay that turns into murderous man-tree chopping assault, then devolves into some extreme form of water sports, this award-winning (?) spot earns 0 out of 5 mud-wrestling lesbians.

Commercial: “Rock is Love” (Italy)

Date: 2009

Advertiser: Datch

Description: A nebbish classical music teacher gets in touch with her wild (and lesbian!) side when she changes her clothes and transforms into a rocker.

Analysis: In this ad by Italian clothier Datch, a boring (and bored) classical music teacher is seen marking the minutes until she can cast aside her job as a pinched up schoolmarm in favor of living a wilder, more stylish life as a rock star.

Is lesbianism part of her secret identity, or is she just making a statement about rock and roll rebellion when she kisses a girl in the audience? Wait, is that girl she’s kissing one of her music students, and is that even legal?

And what is it about lesbians having the ability to make clocks move backwards? I thought only Cher and Superman could turn back time!

Score: For equating lesbianism (though it may be just for show) to exuberant freedom of expression and excellent fashion sense, this ad gets 4 out of 5 mud-wrestling lesbians. (Special thanks to AE reader Acidian for the tip on this commercial!)

Commercial: “Bad Weather” (USA)

Date:2006

Advertiser: Orbitz

Description: Resourceful lesbians beat out a grouchy straight couple in a battle to book a hotel room.

Analysis: Back in the olden days, lesbian couples were sometimes referred to as “traveling companions” by clueless heterosexual observers. These days, Orbitz is smart enough to court the gay dollars of those “traveling companions,” and does so successfully in this commercial.

On a set reminiscent of the old Newlywed Game (which was also recently, and perfectly, gayed on The Ellen DeGeneres Show) two couples learn that their flight has been canceled and that they’ll need to quickly book a hotel room near the airport before their fellow passengers beat them to it. While the stodgy heterosexual couple argue and flip through a telephone book, their happy lesbian counterparts use modern technology and instantaneously book a great room online.

The lesbians celebrate their victory with a joyous kiss, while the heterosexual man gets berated by his nagging wife for losing the contest.

In just a brief television spot, lesbianism is equated with being smart enough to use technology to your advantage and having a happy relationship of equals. The heterosexuals will be spending the night at the airport wrapped up in a questionable brown blanket, while the lesbians will be basking in the luxury of their private hotel room. And who knows what could happen there!

With an commercial like this one, it’s no surprise that Orbitz tops GLAAD’s list with a perfect score of 100 on the “Company Respect” scale for representation and inclusiveness of the GLBT community.

Score: For declaring lesbians versus heterosexuals a fair match, letting the lesbians win, and letting them celebrate with a kiss, this Orbitz commercial gets 5 out of 5 mud-wrestling lesbians.

Commercial: “Kiss and Make-Up” (Canada)

Date:2004

Advertiser: Labatt Blue (Interbrew SA)

Description: One woman shares her lip gloss with another by applying it with her mouth as three titillated men watch. For a multitude of reasons, this scenario would probably not work with Chapstick.

Analysis: This commercial played during the 2004 Superbowl, and it’s easy to see why Interbrew thought it might be a worthwhile investment. After all, women getting physical with one another for the pleasure of male viewers (be they co-stars or those watching at home) is the oldest exploitable lesbian stereotype in the book.

But this ad, and those like it, do raise questions about identity. If, in the commercial, two women kiss each other and enjoy the fact that men are watching them do it, are we to read their characters as lesbians or bisexual? Is this commercial exploiting lesbians or is it exploiting stereotypes (being promiscuous, having multiple, simultaneous partners of both sexes) about bisexual women?

In other words, it’s not a matter of if we should find the LaBatt Blue commercial annoying, but why.

Score: For portraying a juicy girl-on-girl kiss, but doing so in a way that plays into tedious stereotypes of either lesbians or bisexual women, this ad gets 2 out of 5 mud-wrestling lesbians.

Commercial: “Never Miss A Genuine Opportunity” (USA)

Date:2001

Advertiser: Miller Genuine Draft (SAB Miller)

Description: A woman orders a drink for an androgynous stranger whose mysterious good looks offer a “genuine opportunity.”

Analysis: In the textbooks, “situational homosexuality” is a term typically used to describe what happens to women who “go gay” while in prison or an all-girls school, not in a crowded bar while ordering a beer.

In this MGD ad, a woman just happens to catch a glance at a gorgeous stranger at the end of the bar, and quickly changes her order to two beers. As she seductively approaches the stranger with their beers in hand, she realizes that she’s just bought a drink for another woman. She pauses, considers her next step, receives a challenging yet inviting raised eyebrow from the woman across from her, and then decides to stay and share a drink.

The ad is sexy, provocative, and has the potential to raise the ire of multiple groups by intimating that sexuality (or at least the selection of a particular individual sex partner) is a matter of choice, not biological determinism.

It’s also one of the few ads that portrays a (presumed) butch/androgynous lesbian as attractive and desirable. (Is it just me or does the Aviator-clad paramour look a lot like the late lesbian model Gia Carangi?)

Score: For celebrating androgyny, making bisexuality visible, and suggesting that if “gay happens” it could actually be a good thing, this MGD ad gets 4 out of 5 mud-wrestling lesbians.

Stay tuned for upcoming installments in this series, and if you have suggestions for additional commercials we should profile, please send your tips to us at AfterEllen Tips with the subject line “Commercial Suggestion.”

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