D L X From United States of America, joined May 1999, 9736 posts, RR: 54 Posted (5 years 1 month 2 weeks 3 days 12 hours ago) and read 2588 times:
Has anyone seen this new IKEA commercial? It's centered around couches, and how they have a couch for every "flavor" as they say it, and point out all the different uses by the many flavors of people. It flashes between a white family, a black family, a mixed family, an asian family (I think) and then ends with a long shot of a presumably gay couple and their 2 kids, sitting on an IKEA couch.
Is this the beginning of strong companies taking social stands in their commercials? I wonder how this will affect their sales in conservative USA?
MBMBOS From United States of America, joined May 2000, 2448 posts, RR: 2 Reply 1, posted (5 years 1 month 2 weeks 3 days 12 hours ago) and read 2570 times:
Quoting D L X (Thread starter): Is this the beginning of strong companies taking social stands in their commercials?
No, this is about money. The gay market is wealthy and in many ways its easy to target consumption. IKEA isn't the first.
I can't imagine that IKEA is terribly worried about about conservative America boycotting their stores. IKEA's demographic is college kids and the affluent young - two groups that don't have a problem with gay people.
Aloges From Germany, joined Jan 2006, 7085 posts, RR: 51 Reply 2, posted (5 years 1 month 2 weeks 3 days 12 hours ago) and read 2557 times:
Quoting D L X (Thread starter): I wonder how this will affect their sales in conservative USA?
Do they have much to lose in that part of the population? The people I usually see shopping at IKEA are university students, young couples and families and children dragging their parents along for their first own room. On the other hand, the people I know who I'd classify as rather conservative (sorry bout this phrase btw) would hardly be caught dead at an IKEA store.
HUYguy From United Kingdom, joined Apr 2006, 274 posts, RR: 0 Reply 3, posted (5 years 1 month 2 weeks 3 days 12 hours ago) and read 2549 times:
This isn't the first time Ikea's used a gay couple in their commercials. A while ago, I can't remember when, but I'm pretty sure I saw a TV programme that had it in.
Falstaff From United States of America, joined Jun 2006, 5087 posts, RR: 33 Reply 4, posted (5 years 1 month 2 weeks 3 days 11 hours ago) and read 2529 times:
Quoting MBMBOS (Reply 1): No, this is about money. The gay market is wealthy and in many ways its easy to target consumption
business is business.
Quoting D L X (Thread starter): Is this the beginning of strong companies taking social stands in their commercials?
Anheuser-Busch, Coors, and Miller have had gay advertising items for years. I see items pop up at brewery collectible shows from time to time. I think AB had some gay ads in the 90s. When I lived in STL I remember there being a big stink about it.
I could care less who a company advertises too. I am high on capitalism. I see A T & T ads around Detroit in Arabic. I have friends who get all upset at that. I say if Arabs are buying A T & T products because of the ads then kudos to A T & T. Advertising is the American way!
Quoting Aloges (Reply 2): Do they have much to lose in that part of the population?
I am conservative and I don't shop there. Not because I have a problem with Ikea's politics (do they even have any?), but because I don't like their furniture. It just isn't my style. I like Early American Styles.
My best friend from high school, Gay Mike, writes advertisements for use by a Detroit auto company. He has written some ads that have some gay appeal for vehicles that that demographic might like, and some good redneck stuff for the good ole' boys. Many times the ads are for the same car, but are shown on different TV stations, programs, markets, etc. It is all about selling cars and trucks. No different than the GM ads I have seen in Spanish.
I have a reel to reel of a 1981 set of Pabst Blue Ribbon radio commercials and the words in the songs are all the same. But each is sung in a different way with different music. There is Country, jazz, Rock, Soul, R & B, Metal, and contemporary. The idea behind it is all the different people who like that music like to drink beer and if Pabst could make pitch to a person on their "home turf" they could make a sale. Most companies do that.
D L X From United States of America, joined May 1999, 9736 posts, RR: 54 Reply 5, posted (5 years 1 month 2 weeks 3 days 11 hours ago) and read 2514 times:
For what it's worth, I don't mean "conservative" as "Republican," but the actual meaning of conservative - traditional. Despite much progress, gays are still far from being fully accepted in most of the US.
Also, this commercial was on national television, during ABC world news tonight.
Falstaff From United States of America, joined Jun 2006, 5087 posts, RR: 33 Reply 6, posted (5 years 1 month 2 weeks 3 days 11 hours ago) and read 2497 times:
Quoting D L X (Reply 5): this commercial was on national television, during ABC world news tonight.
That is kind of odd. Commercials sometimes surprise me. During the World Series and All star Game there was a Mobil Oil commercial for their On the Run Stores and the family is shown throughout the ad is driving a 1979-85 Mercedes-Benz 300TD, which is a wagon. I thought it odd to see a new ad with such a odd old car featured so prominently in the ad. I love that ad because I have an 80 300TD, the same color as in the add too. I know an older car doesn't have any political issues but it was still odd.
TedTAce From , joined Dec 1969, posts, RR: Reply 7, posted (5 years 1 month 2 weeks 3 days 10 hours ago) and read 2473 times:
Quoting D L X (Thread starter): Is this the beginning of strong companies taking social stands in their commercials?
No. Try Benneton and many others
Quoting D L X (Thread starter): I wonder how this will affect their sales in conservative USA?
Ok, there's 300 Million morons in the US.
A touch over 50 million of them voted conservatively in the last presidential election, argueably, the minority. Ignore the argument and you are still talking about approximately 200 million people that we just don't know are conservative or liberal by any measure. Cut them in 1/2 'just because' and you have at least 100 million that are probably willing to buy Ikea.... if they can afford it. 100 million potential customers, you think I'm going to care about what the other 200 million think if I'm doing what I believe in as a businessman?
D L X From United States of America, joined May 1999, 9736 posts, RR: 54 Reply 9, posted (5 years 1 month 2 weeks 3 days 10 hours ago) and read 2456 times:
Quoting TedTAce (Reply 7): A touch over 50 million of them voted conservatively in the last presidential electio
Again, I'm not talking about how people vote. I'm using this definition, from dictionary.com: adj, disposed to preserve existing conditions, institutions, etc., or to restore traditional ones, and to limit change.
That basically describes Americans, regardless of who we vote for, in comparison to our friends in Europe.
Diamond From United States of America, joined Apr 2004, 3279 posts, RR: 75 Reply 10, posted (5 years 1 month 2 weeks 3 days 9 hours ago) and read 2427 times:
IKEA has been running commercials with presumably-gay characters since the early 90's. This is not a new thing for them at all.
However, IKEA is also known for making commercials that show gay people in a negative context, at times.
Review: " .. Prison jokes were not solely men's territory. IKEA ran a print ad in Los Angeles called "Tax Evasion Day" that featured a woman in jail with another woman aggressively making the moves on her unhappy cellmate. (Crispin Porter + Bogusky) .. "
Review: " .. A European ad for IKEA, called "A Woman or Nearly," stars an attractive woman putting on makeup who then hits "her" crotch on a table and yelps as a man. (Leagas-Delaney) .. "
" .. The IKEA ad disappeared only a few weeks after it began when the retailer got a bomb threat at a store from conservatives, along with calls for a boycott. .. "
" .. She enters and sees the plumber's abandoned equipment in front of the stairs and goes up to investigate. She finds her husband as he's reopening the bedroom curtains and smiling at the plumber, who is sitting on the bed as he puts his socks back on -- implying that they'd just had sex. .. "
On a related note, Airbus created a commercial in 2003 that used a mixture of male/female names to imply that the gender of a couple (including same-sex) was a non-issue:
Overview: " .. In a series of classic couples, each is interrupted by a third person's name: "Adam (& Peter) & Eve," "Romeo (& Emma) & Juliet," "Beauty (& Simon) & The Beast," "Anthony (& Ian) & Cleopatra," "Barbie (& Steve) & Ken."
Then, it adds, "The only family of aircraft designed with no middle seat in business class" -- as a picture of three seats in a row shows a middle seat disappearing. The addition of a third name seems to slyly suggest three-way relations, or a breakup! .. "
By visiting http://www.commercialcloset.org, you can search for the name of any company and then watch the actual commerciall in Quicktime.
N229NW From United States of America, joined Sep 2004, 1719 posts, RR: 44 Reply 11, posted (5 years 1 month 2 weeks 3 days 8 hours ago) and read 2387 times:
Quoting ShakeZulaNJ (Reply 8): WHAT?? This is outrageous!! How dare they try to court the sodomites and child molesters!! I pray God strikes them down to hell with the abortionists.
Signed,
Slovacek747
Quoting Falstaff (Reply 4): My best friend from high school, Gay Mike
Your best friend from high school is named "Gay Mike"? any relation to Big Gay Al from South Park?
Doona From Sweden, joined Feb 2005, 3640 posts, RR: 11 Reply 12, posted (5 years 1 month 2 weeks 3 days 3 hours ago) and read 2330 times:
When IKEA started out in the US, IKEA was not sure of how the general public would recieve the store, so they went with a "safe bet" and the ad-campaign targeted gay men (no doubt because of our excellent taste). And it worked apparently
Cheers
Mats
Sure, we're concerned for our lives. Just not as concerned as saving 9 bucks on a roundtrip to Ft. Myers.
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