Inclusive Marketing: An Urgent Call For LGBTQIA+ Allyship

You could count the amount of explicit LGBTQIA+ representation in this year’s Super Bowl ads on one hand. Five celebrities from the community, in four ads. Four of them were white (Elton John, Jonathan Van Ness, Antoni Porowski, Christian Siriano and Doja Cat). That’s really disappointing. 

The Super Bowl averaged 113 million viewers this year, drawing in people from around the world. Increasing to an average of 118.7 million viewers during RiRi’s halftime show. What a huge missed opportunity for LGBTQIA+ inclusion in adverts.

Why does it matter? 

Authentic representation of marginalised communities in marketing campaigns, such as the LGBTQIA+ community, can have positive cumulative effects on society. The power of advertisers to contribute to positive change, as well as better connecting to their (spoiler alert!) non-homogeneous audiences, and getting better engagement should not be forgotten “3 out of 4 LGBTQ+ themed ads outperform generic ads in driving brand recall” (Kantar Millward Brown). Especially when the community is shouting out for allies to show up with actions not just words or a rainbow logo during Pride.

At Outvertising, a volunteer-run platform that exists to make UK advertising and marketing completely LGBTQIA+ inclusive, we already know people identifying within our community is increasing “56% of 18-24-year-olds do not consider themselves to be 100% heterosexual” (YouGov) and we know audiences value diverse advertising “45% of consumers under 34 say they are more likely to do repeat business with an LGBTQ+ friendly company” (Think with Google). 

And please don’t forget, it’s not just LGBTQIA+ people who want to see the community represented in ads “64% of adults think it’s positive for the LGBTQ+ community to be visible in advertisements” (Karmara/Gay Times). And we don’t just exist before and during Pride month. We need representation all year round.

Great advertising can help break the cycle of oppression. By changing the narrative about marginalised people in the LGBTQIA+ community, including those of us who are Black, Brown, disabled, of faith, old or fat, you change the concept of what it means to be LGBTQIA+ for those not familiar with the intersectional brilliance of our community. And when the general public see us as people, not stereotypes, prejudice is reduced. Which in turn reduces discrimination, abuse and hate crimes. It means we can feel a bit freer to live our daily lives without second-guessing how we speak, dress and act.

Our community is in crisis

Reported hate crimes based on sexuality have increased 41% and 56% for transgender people in England and Wales (ONS, 2021-2022). The figures are likely to be a lot higher according to a recent Stonewall Study revealing “81% of LGBT people who experienced a hate crime or incident didn't report it to the police” (Stonewall, 2022).

This terrifying rise in hate has undoubtedly been fed by anti-LGBTQIA+ and Anti-trans narratives platformed endlessly in mainstream media cycles. Which fall on the backdrop of debates about the rights of our community. We thought we could finally celebrate a ban on barbaric so-called conversion therapy for sexuality only to find out it wasn’t a complete ban, as promised, but would exclude trans and non-binary people. 

Scotland gave us all hope, voting to pass the Gender Recognition Reform Bill offering a less traumatic way for trans people to gain formal recognition of their gender for documentation such as marriage, death and taxes. This would have been a humanising act amongst all the other anti-trans rhetoric and amid dangerous wait times for medical appointments, averaging three years but often at least four or five, risking trans lives and pushing mental health to untenable limits. Only the UK Government went out of its way to block it citing a conflict with the Equality Act 2010 which the Bill itself explicitly states it does not modify at all.

Across the pond in the USA, the community is also suffering against the backdrop of US States attacking the rights of the LGBTQIA+ population in America, where hundreds of “discriminatory policies are inextricably linked to and contribute to a rise in extremist anti-LGBTQI+ and, specifically, anti-transgender rhetoric, disinformation, and violence”.

“Half of LGBTQI+ adults reported experiencing some form of workplace discrimination or harassment in the past year because of their sexual orientation, gender identity, or intersex status, including being fired; being denied a promotion; having their work hours cut; or experiencing verbal, physical, or sexual harassment.” (CAP, 2022)

A sporting chance

Focusing back on the Super Bowl, Stonewall also found “10% of LGBTQ people who attended a live sporting event in the last year experienced discrimination because of their sexual orientation and/or gender identity”. Members of the community reported experiencing hate crime and abuse online, being afraid to hold their partner’s hand while walking down the street or avoiding certain streets altogether due to safety concerns.

Representation in advertising should show a baseline of belonging and inclusion for LGBTQIA+ sports fans. If we don’t foster a sense of inclusion and safety at sporting events how can we expect our LGBTQIA+ fans to show up in support of our teams when we don’t even take the time to think about including them in the narratives of our ads?

Three years ago, Super Bowl 2023, GAAD reported promising levels of LGBTQIA+ representation in ads including “diverse LGBTQ voices colour”. But with the aforementioned being a snippet of the current climate and negative stories surrounding our community it’s really disheartening that global brands seem to be stalling on their commitments to LGBTQIA+ inclusion.

We know so many creative and strategic trans consultants with brilliant minds and skills who’ve been pushed out of workplaces in marketing, advertising and media due to discrimination and a lack of inclusion. We need to act now, collectively, to ensure they’re not pushed out of this world. Because that is the reality we’re facing. It shouldn’t take the untimely murder of a sixteen-year-old trans girl, also subjected to transphobia by mainstream media in her death, to tell us that.

The world is watching, where are our allies?

We need you to show our community in adverts, on the big and small screens and especially during times when the world is watching. Show us watching sports, walking down streets holding our partner’s hands safely and happily. Because the world needs to know it’s ok to be us and we are nothing to be feared. That they can share space with us and not feel threatened by our presence.

We need an equitable presence in your comms in order to influence those watching that we deserve to take up space in this world. Not just a quota of ads proportionate to the LGBTQIA+ population.

Allyship is not easy. Creating content that represents ‘the other’ sometimes requires bravery. But we need those in positions of power and influence to think of us when no one else does. To get our voices in the room to inform authentic storytelling.

As the UK advertising industry starts to plan for our own Super Bowl, the Christmas ad break, we ask you to consider how you can demonstrate allyship toward the LGBTQIA+ community this year. 

Outvertising is calling on brands to create LGBTQIA+ content all year round. Not just during Pride month, but every month. Amplify those campaigns to broad audiences, not just select segments of your consumer base. In doing so, know you’re helping to break the cycle of oppression whilst showing your whole audience you value the presence of a wonderful and ever-growing community that really needs your support right now.