The Commercial Break

I find advertising hypnotising. I like to imagine that I’m above being fooled into buying something by a glitzy advertising campaign, but I am totally addicted to watching how adverts play off people to convince us their product is the best. Some of them are utter genius; I think there are some advertising people that deserve more recognition for clever public manipulation. Of course there are those crap adverts too – with a voice over telling you about a sale. But we won’t go into them.

Another reason I like some adverts now is because of the way so many of them use homosexuality in a purely sneaky way. I won’t let them fool me – I know their game. While fundamentalists everywhere are fuming about gay relationships in soaps, the gay undertones are passing happily across their little eyes during the commercial breaks.

It seems people hate to see gay packaged as ‘gay’. If you put it in a different context it doesn’t always dawn on them that it is gay, and is therefore OK. Two men wandering around half naked advertising underwear isn’t gay… is it?

I found an interesting website called ‘The Commercial Closet’ which lists loads of ‘gay vague’ and blatant gay advertising. It also lists the negative portrayals and generally makes for interesting reading.