Running Head: Issues With Equitable Representation of LGBT People in

Issues With Equitable Representation of LGBT People in Television Advertising

Or

A Humanitarian Approach to the Promotion of a Democracy: How Inequitable

Treatment of LGBT Persons in the Media Affects Us All, and What We Can Do To Fix It

David J. Szumlanski
University of Kansas, Fall B 2016
Professor: Nicholas Natchoo, PhD

Issues With Equitable Representation of LGBT People in Television Advertising

INTRODUCTION
The broad scope of multiculturalism covers many aspects of culture and identity.
So many, in fact, that in order to understand multiculturalism as a whole it is necessary
to learn about and analyze various facets independently. Religious minorities in the US
draw upon commonly held beliefs, racial and ethnic groups often possess unifying
characteristics, and sexuality appears to be more of a spectrum than most people
believed in previous centuries. To compound an already complex issue, many people
identify with multiple groups, and people who identify with any given group will not
identify with all of these defining characteristics equally. Thus, it is fair to note that while
a specific group may be studied, the results are not equally generalizable to all people
within that group. Still, the processes of by which we understand some of the most
common strengths and struggles of a particular group is the very process by which we
may better come to understand our own humanity.
The purpose of this project is to analyze differences between television
commercials that target LGBT people versus commercials that do not explicitly target
this group. Some of the guiding questions that were created before the project began
are as follows: 1) Do LGBT and non-LGBT commercials feature equitable visibility of
LGBT and non-LGBT persons? 2) Are LGBT people portrayed realistically in
commercials targeting LGBT and non-LGBT persons? 3) What are the potential
implications of these commercials for American consumers? As the research process
developed, more questions were added, including 4) How does the tone, or mood, differ
between ads that target LGBT and non-LGBT persons? 5) Are there significant

Issues With Equitable Representation of LGBT People in Television Advertising

thematic differences between commercials targeting the different groups? 6) Do

product categories (the types of goods or services) differ between the two groups?
The interest in this topic is tied to several factors. For one, I have a relative who
is gay and friends that are gay. Secondly, though I had been uncomfortable addressing
this even in the midst of our multicultural education discussions, I also identify as gay.
Additionally, students of all cognitive ability levels, from the intellectually gifted to those
with significant disabilities, inherently show characteristics of human sexuality. Thus, in
the interest of equitable treatment of all students, the topic of LGBT persons is one of
the facets that must be understood by all teachers. Finally, the current political climate
necessitates interest (and meaningful, high-quality research) into the ways that LGBT
people are represented in the media, and the ways those representations help or hurt
LGBT persons in a variety of ways. From the recent recommendations to allow
transgendered students to use the bathroom of the gender they identify with (and the
push-back received in some places), to the fact that the incoming president and
republican political leaders have often backed ideologies and legislation that threatens
the progress toward LGBT equality. Particularly, gay marriage is a recent development
that came only from the nations highest court. In lieu of the lingering vacancy on the
Supreme Court, this progress is far from guaranteed, and it is on the minds of many in
the LGBT community that our nations leaders have not unilaterally agreed that LGBT
persons deserve anything but a separate set of rights; a lesser set of rights.
For young people in schools, who are often connected to the internet via smart
phones and other devices, the media can be a powerful force of inclusivity or further
ostracism. As the demands of contemporary society develop, educators must move to

Issues With Equitable Representation of LGBT People in Television Advertising

meet those demands. Critical thinking is a frequently discussed topic for teachers, and
this study serves to help meet modern demands in two major ways. First, the findings
may further support the importance of more inclusive measures for LGBT persons in the
classroom. Second, the study itself could be viewed as a potentially beneficial activity
for students (specifically in middle school and high school for students who do not have
extreme cognitive disabilities) to complete as a class activity. The purpose of this
activity would be to foster critical thinking skills, and to allow students to come to their
own understanding of the implications of this topic.

REVIEW OF RELATED RESEARCH LITERATURE

By the 1990s, the marketing world came to think of gay and lesbian consumers
as the dream market because of the belief that they had above average disposable
income (Oakenfull & Greenlee, 2004). Late in the 20 th century, researchers were
already studying the ways that heterosexuals perceive and interpret homosexual
imagery in advertising (Bhat, Leigh, and Wardlow, 1998). Advertisers at the time were
interested in learning how to reach the broadest audience while offending the fewest
viewers, and measured the way that two females or two males could be interpreted
differently between LGBT persons and those who did not identify as LGBT. The authors
were genuinely interested in promoting inclusivity in advertising, as noted in the
conclusion of the article, and demonstrated a reliable phenomenon by which two
persons of the same sex could be identified as LGBT persons more easily by other
LGBT persons, whereas non-LGBT persons were more likely to see the people as
friends or siblings.

Issues With Equitable Representation of LGBT People in Television Advertising

Another important difference noted in the research is the fact there are
differences in the ways that LGBT persons and non-LGBT persons view advertising,
and the medium from which they most consume advertising (Burnett, 2000). For
instance, gay people in particular were less trusting of radio and newspaper ads than
were non-LGBT people. Though LGBT people were most trusting of word-of-mouth
advertising and direct interactions with salespersons, the study concluded that television
advertising was the most effective medium by which to target this audience.
Though more recent research could not be located to confirm that TV is still the
most effective way to target LGBT consumers, none of the reviewed research
contradicted this. Furthermore, other mediums were even more difficult to use in
relation to advertising. Though social media is consistently utilized as advertising, it is
not effectively labeled as such, and is almost never differentiated between LGBT
advertising and non-LGBT with regard to accessibility. For instance, searching hashtags proved to have incredible limitations, and while some data is collected by various
agencies, it is almost impossible to locate the initial post in order to view the
advertisement itself.

METHODOLOGY
Because of the time required to find enough LGBT commercials on television in
real time, it was decided that viewing the commercials online would be a more
appropriate method. This also allowed the commercials to be reviewed several times
for coding purposes. Youtube.com was utilized exclusively, and only commercials that
were posted within the last 16 months were reviewed. Only advertisements targeting

Issues With Equitable Representation of LGBT People in Television Advertising

American audiences were selected in order to view the issue within a national rather
than global scope. No length was determined for the commercials. To find LGBT
commercials, the main search terms used were LGBT TV commercials, or LGBT
television commercials, and best LGBT television commercials. The last search term
was did not add much to the availability of choices. Once a sizable sample could be
located that met the criteria, it was determined that 8 commercials would be reviewed
and analyzed, and 8 non-LGBT commercials would be located for comparative analysis.
Search terms used to find these commercials were best TV commercials of 2016, and
best television commercials of 2016. A comparable search term for LGBT
commercials would have been best LGBT TV commercials of 2016. However, this
search yielded highly inconsistent results that frequently did not meet the criteria of
being American, from 2016, or even LGBT.
It was deemed that these were appropriate for study because the LGBT
commercials were indeed targeting LGBT persons, and met the aforementioned criteria.
Additionally, all 8 commercials originally chosen for review (LGBT and non) lacked
offensive language or themes, nudity, and controversial products, and did not require
revising or elimination once they had been viewed one time.

DATA ANALYSIS DEVICES

To answer the first research question, a system of tracking the number of couples
and individuals was devised. For each commercial, the number of LGBT couples or
persons and non-LGBT persons was noted. Originally a checkmark was used if the
commercial featured at least one LGBT couple or person, which proved to ineffective

Issues With Equitable Representation of LGBT People in Television Advertising

because I was surprised to see the number of LGBT and non-LGBT persons featured in
the LGBT commercials. Additionally, once the initial coding was underway, various
other elements of the commercials became evident. Second cycle coding was utilized
to label the mood, themes, and product type for each commercial. Following the coding
process, the data was reviewed for errors, and then the results from LGBT commercials
could be compared to results from the non-LGBT commercials.
FINDINGS
The results of the LGBT commercials are as follows:
Themes: Family (5), Marriage Equality (5), Parenting (3), Adversity interracial
marriage (3), Financial Success and Wealth (2), Education (1), non-LGBT marriage (1),
Adversity Disability (1), Religious Equality (1).
Mood: Sentimental (6), Humorous (2)
Gender Diversity: non-LGBT couple (4), Male couple (3), Female couple (3),
Interracial couple (1), Single male (1).
Product Categories represented: Finance (2), Health (2), Luxury item (2),
Household item (1), Beverage item (1).
Results for the non-LGBT commercials are as follows:
Themes: Heterosexual attraction (2), Family & Bullying (1 each in the same
commercial), heterosexual gender role stereotypes heavily used.
Moods: Sentimental (1), Humorous (7).
Genders shown: Non-LGBT couples (8), Single homosexual male (1), ambiguous
representation of many couples and individuals (1).
Products: Food items (4), beverage items (3), cars (2).

Issues With Equitable Representation of LGBT People in Television Advertising

These findings represent significant differences between LGBT and non-LGBT

television advertising. In terms of themes, equality is a much more prevalent, and the
inclusivity of non-LGBT couples was surprisingly high (included in 50% of ads studied).
The themes represented were more robust in terms the relationships shown. LGBT ads
focused more heavily on family and established relationships, whereas non-LGBT ads
featured less family oriented attraction and more sexual attraction, as well as more
independent and rebellious roles.
Gender stereotypes were also more heavily noted, as in the Butterfinger
commercial, which featured a male doing daring, bold things on his own, such as
jumping out of an airplane, ignoring his mother, etc. The non-LGBT Taco Bell add
featured many pairings and groups of people. This was in line with Burnetts research
regarding the ambiguity of relationships, which could be interpreted differently to
different people. Finally, the products featured in the LGBT ads were slightly more
diverse, with 5 categories present, whereas non-LGBT commercials reviewed featured
only food, drinks, and cars. It should be noted that these 8 commercials are not
representative of the breadth of commercials currently on television, though these ads
were not chosen to intentionally to limit the scope of product diversity.
By analyzing data for trends in privilege, some important conclusions may be
drawn. The LGBT ads carefully depict family interactions consistently, potentially aware
of the fact that gay marriage is a recent development, and avoiding the stereotype of
sexual promiscuity. The non-LGBT adds were, overall, not so reserved, indicative of
privilege associated with hetero-normativity; non-LGBT persons may not be aware of
the notion that some LGBT couples feel afraid or uncomfortable demonstrating physical

Issues With Equitable Representation of LGBT People in Television Advertising

affection publically. Half of the LGBT ads featured heterosexual couples as well as
LGBT couples and individuals, whereas the Taco Bell ad was the only non-LGBT ad to
feature an openly gay person. Even then, the man (George Takei) is not doing anything
that identifies him as gay. That is to say that the LGBT commercials didnt exclude nonLGBT people in the same way that the non-LGBT ads seemed to exclude LGBT people.
The one non-LGBT add that featured Takei is also the commercial that featured many
different pairings and groups, in line with Burnetts findings regarding the ambiguity of
relationships that can be interpreted differently.
The most surprising findings, which may not be accurate because of the
relatively small sample size, were the differences in moods and products. The LGBT
commercials utilized a sentimental mood in 75% of the ads (as noted by music choice,
speaking volume, content, etc., and 25% of ads featured a humorous tone. This was
practically reversed for non-LGBT commercials, which were 12.5% (1 of the 8)
sentimental, and 87.5% humorous. Half of the LGBT commercials featured products
categorized as either financial/wealth or health care, whereas these categories were not
visible in any of the non-LGBT commercials. That is to speculate that advertising
agencies may well understand the increased struggles related to health care costs for
LGBT persons, though this is unconfirmed. Furthermore, it may indicate that ad
agencies continue to believe the notion of LGBT persons as a having higher than
average disposable income, though more gay couples do have dependents now as
compared to any time in the past (due to scientific advances and LGBT marriage laws).
On a reflective note, this project has illuminated and reinforced several key
concepts taught in this class. The presence of privilege was continually evident

Issues With Equitable Representation of LGBT People in Television Advertising

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throughout the project (Banks & Banks, 2013). From beginning (finding videos to
analyze) to end (seeing the differences in themes), non-LGBT persons may have an
invisible privilege; the lack of hetero-normative privilege may sometimes be more easily
seen (and felt) by persons self-identifying as LGBT. Furthermore, this project reinforced
the necessity of teachers and schools to engage in the process of making school safe
places for their LGBT students. All people deserve to have role models they can relate
to, and all people deserve to know that it is possible for people like themselves to
succeed in this world. Equitable treatment in schools is important, as is actively trying
to make school personnel representative of local, national, and global demographics.
The most troubling facet of this project was the significant difference in ease of finding
ads to analyze. While searching for non-LGBT ads, plenty were visible and matched
criteria set forth by the methodology. LGBT ads, on the other hand, were not as easy to
find, with recent ads being much less plentiful. Mixed in with these ads were a notable
number of anti-LGBT ads, as well as ads labeled as having been banned from TV.

SIGNIFICANCE AND SUMMARY

In general, this project found striking inequality in television advertising within the
last 16 months. It also found trends in themes, tone or mood, and product types
between LGBT and non-LGBT commercials. This project confirms the Burnetts
findings, which describe the reasons why television is an effective marketing medium.
The findings also confirm the notion that intentional marketing differences exist in terms
of product type between the LGBT and non-LGBT consumers. This project attempts to
link this topic with the necessity of promoting equitable teaching practices for LGBT

Issues With Equitable Representation of LGBT People in Television Advertising

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youth based upon the recommendations of Banks and Banks within the multiculturalist
perspective, as well as skills related to critical thinking about media and advertising.
While there were not major twists or turns to this project, the initial process of
identifying suitable television ads for analysis illuminated the potential ostracism that
may be furthered by inequitable representation of LGBT persons within non-LGBT
specific advertisements. A much greater amount of time was required to identify 8
recent commercials that met the established criteria for LGBT ads versus the non-LGBT
ads to be studied. Furthermore, none of the ads within the non-LGBT search seemed
offensive in terms of sexuality, though many gender role stereotypes were reinforced
within the non-LGBT commercials. On a personal note, I couldnt help but think of the
class discussions on privilege because of the exclusion of LGBT persons in advertising.
These could be seen as micro-aggressions that promote a culture of hetero-normalcy.
Various limitations to this study should be noted. Convenience sampling was
utilized in this project due to the lack of availability of all LGBT and non-LGBT
commercials currently in play on television. The sample size for ads was small (8 each
LGBT and non), and the search terms were not consistent, as noted in the
methodology section. This may adversely affect the reliability of this study.
Furthermore, the ads chosen were not actually seen on television, but on YouTube.com,
so significant consideration should be given to validity and generalizability concerns.
One last consideration: a colleague in this course noted that this study is not
longitudinal, so it does not highlight the trajectory of social and attitudinal progress that
has indeed been achieved in recent decades.

Issues With Equitable Representation of LGBT People in Television Advertising

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RECOMMENDATIONS
Research consistently reports troubling statistics regarding LGBT youth.
Statistics such as increased rates of suicide, youth homelessness, and risky behavior
such as alcohol and drug use and unsafe sex (NoBullying.com, 2016, and San
Francisco Unified School District, 2011). The findings of this project only serve to
compound those findings. Thus several recommendations can be made.
First, American television advertising deserves more equitable representation of
LGBT persons, even if only utilizing the methods noted in the Burnett study. This article
referenced the idea that some advertisers may want to be identified as being on the
cutting edge of social issues, and it is recommended that more companies take this
stance in regard to equitable marketing practices. Second, teachers in schools should
be committed to multicultural practices to enhance the treatment of LGBT youth at their
schools, including the recommendations by Banks and Banks at the close of Chapter 9
in their book, Multicultural Education. Furthermore, teachers may choose to have
students analyze television commercials or other forms of media, in a manner similar to
this project, as a critical thinking exercise or a lead-in for more robust classroom
discussion. Third, further study of more samples in real context (on TV on the same day
in the same area) is needed, as is a longitudinal study that projects the trajectory of
attitudes related to this topic, and how that may have changed, and is changing in lieu
of recent political happenings.
As noted in the Declaration of Independence, Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of
Happiness are considered to be unalienable rights (ushistory.org). We must stare down
the grim statistics of youth suicide, homelessness, and risky behavior, as real barriers to

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each of those three rights, and ask ourselves what we can do to ensure that LGBT
persons know that they are included as beneficiaries of those rights. Classroom
teachers can do many things to increase the likelihood of this perception, and indeed to
make classrooms equitable. The media can as well. Weve come a long way even in
my lifetime, and I cannot wait to see what the future holds for LGBT persons in America.
But we must remain vigilant to not allow this progress to be taken for granted; we must
continue to ensure equitable educational practices as multiculturalists, and bring our
colleagues with us on the adventure. In line with Freires assertion that education is, by
its very nature, political, our democracy relies and thrives on equality for all people,
including equitable practices, and particularly for those practices applicable to the field
of education itself (Freire, 1970).

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References

Oakenfull, G., & Greenlee, T. (2004). The three rules of crossing over from gay media
to mainstream media advertising: lesbians, lesbians, lesbians. Journal of
Business Research 57(1), p 1276-1285.
Bhat, S., Leigh, T. W., & Wardlow, D.L. (1998). The Effect of Consumer Prejudices on
Ad Processing: Heterosexual Consumers Responses to Homosexual Imagery
in Ads. Journal of Advertising, 27(4).
Burnett, J.J. (2000). Gays: Feelings about Advertising and Media Used. Journal of
Advertising Research, 40(1).
Banks, J., & Banks, C. (2013). Multicultural education issues and perspectives (8th ed.).
Hoboken, NJ: Wiley.
Unidentified Author, (2016, November 7). LGBT Bullying Statistics. Retrieved December
13, 2016, from https://nobullying.com/lgbt-bullying-statistics/.
San Francisco Unified School District, (2011). Support Services for LGBTQ Youth.
Retrieved December 13, 2016, from http://www.pflagatl.org/lgbt-youth-andsuicide-study/.
Jefferson, T. (1776). Declaration of Independence. Retrieved December 13, 2016, from
http://www.ushistory.org/declaration/document/.
Freire, P. (1970). Pedagogy of the oppressed. New York: Continuum.

Issues With Equitable Representation of LGBT People in Television Advertising

LGBT Ads Utilized

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lXDWqQNg4nw
https://www.youtube.com/watch?
v=DxDsx8HfXEk&index=2&list=PLFd94r0f_beqBSptxkzRfi6XLf_XMOD2j
https://www.youtube.com/watch?
v=xjjBA7ONB34&index=4&list=PLFd94r0f_beqBSptxkzRfi6XLf_XMOD2j
https://www.youtube.com/watch?
v=4oTS44SUwjM&index=5&list=PLFd94r0f_beqBSptxkzRfi6XLf_XMOD2j
https://www.youtube.com/watch?
v=wMT4oWqcr2c&list=PLFd94r0f_beqBSptxkzRfi6XLf_XMOD2j&index=8
https://www.youtube.com/watch?
v=z7pp_4d01ls&index=14&list=PLFd94r0f_beqBSptxkzRfi6XLf_XMOD2j
https://www.youtube.com/watch?
v=sX92lI0o7kY&index=19&list=PLFd94r0f_beqBSptxkzRfi6XLf_XMOD2j
https://www.youtube.com/watch?
v=uKmzeBd2OHs&index=23&list=PLFd94r0f_beqBSptxkzRfi6XLf_XMOD2j

Non-LGBT Ads Utilized

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q2c2mPpvcpw (First Five Commercials)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pBp_75SYfPA (First Three Commercials)

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