In alphabetical order
This category celebrates the brands that have successfully promoted to or are popular with the LGBT+ community.
Argos
Retail giant Argos released a short but sweet ad in 2020, titled ‘Movie Lovers, are you good? Or are you good to go?’ The video, which promotes garden renovation, features a same-sex couple and their children. Unfortunately, Argos was met with homophobic responses, but they stood their ground, announcing ‘We’re proud to represent a diverse and inclusive Britain in our advertising.’
CADBURYS
Creme Egg ‘Golden Goobilee’
It’s the golden goobilee! In celebration of the 50th anniversary of the creme egg, Cadbury released a colourful and creative ad campaign, with one video featuring a same-sex couple *nearly* kissing. Cadbury’s campaign was a great step in the right direction to better representation of LGBT+ people in ads, and it definitely subconsciously got us buying more creme eggs this year!
CALVIN KLEIN
I SPEAK MY TRUTH (MYCALVINS)
Calvin Klein made headlines in Jude 2020 with their pride campaign, which featured icons of the LGBT+ community, including Jari Jones, Pabllo Vittar, Chella Man and Tommy Dorfman to name a few. This campaign is one of many that Calvin Klein has released as of late that represent a more diverse range of models, not only through LGBT+ representation, but also great representation of diverse bodies, and Black, Asian and Ethnic Minority models.
CLEAN&CLEAR
BE PROUD OF THE SKIN YOU’RE IN
Since 2019, the UK’s leading teen skincare brand, CLEAN&CLEAR® have been proudly championing the LGBT+ community in partnership with leading UK retailers and LGBT+ personalities under the inclusive banner “be proud of the skin you’re in”. The campaign was backed with a donation to The AKT, supporting their amazing work in protecting vulnerable LGBT+ young people across the UK. The campaign partnered with LGBT influencers such as Drag Race UK star Blu Hydrangea to further amplify the message of acceptance.
P&G’S FAIRY LIQUID
FAIR
‘P&G’s Fairy liquid has long been a staple of most households, and in 2019 they stood in support of Pride with Charity partner; akt. Rebranding their bottles to Fair Liquid in an effort to bring awareness to LGBT+ issues, Fairy encouraged families to have conversations about the subject in the heart of the home, the kitchen. This is not the first time that P&G have demonstrated their solidarity, with the organisation releasing a documentary about the company’s own journey to LGBT+ acceptance, titled ‘Out of the Shadows.’
GSK CONSUMER HEALTH
#RepresentationMatters for Sensodyne & Voltarol
The team forged an ongoing partnership with GAY TIMES to shape advertising creative which better represents LGBT audiences. In 2021 Sensodyne remade their original ‘Faces’ campaign with a diverse & colourful new LGBT cast, whilst Voltarol supported the charity Pride Sports and told the stories of how LGBT sports clubs have supported their members through the year of Covid. The creative was shown to LGBT audiences but also amplified more broadly to challenge sterotypes. It’s part of a global program to drive better representation in marketing and their wider involvement in Outvertising and co-chairing the WFA’s Global Diversity Task Force.
MARKS AND SPENCER
LGBT SANDWICH
The Pride sandwich, Marks and Spencer’s lettuce, guacamole, bacon and tomato creation made headlines in 2019. M&S highlighted their solidarity with the LGBT+ community by donating £10,000 to AKT, a charity based in the UK that aids homeless LGBT+ youth. The perfect quick lunch for you to grab on the way to Pride!
STARBUCKS
WHAT’S YOUR NAME
We know that we definitely shed a little tear when we saw this advert! Starbuck’s heartwarming campaign, ‘What’s Your Name’ was based around testing out a new name during a transition. With the lacklustre representation of transgender and gender diverse people in much of mainstream media, this beautiful ad, really provided an insight into the importance of the simple act of being asked your name when you order a coffee. Starbucks has also partnered with the charity Mermaids with the aim of raising £100,000 for their helpline, supported by the ‘Mermaids Cookie’ which you could buy in store.
UNILEVER (LYNX, VASELINE, SIMPLE and CLOSE UP)
PRIDE INSIDE
For their biggest Pride campaign so far, Unilever brands Lynx, Vaseline, Simple and Close Up partnered with Superdrug for their ‘Pride Inside’ campaign, launching new limited edition packs exclusive to Superdrug and a nationwide in-store activation allowing customers to celebrate Pride from their homes in a number of unique ways, to help raise awareness of and support Switchboard the LGBT+ Helpline charity. In addition to a £50,000 donation as part of the campaign which will fund 170,000 minutes of helpline support from Switchboard, each limited edition rainbow pack will be available for a year and include Switchboard’s number, helping to raise awareness of the essential support they offer to the LGBT+ community and ensure visibility of their number to those who need it.
WAGAMAMAS
GENDER NEUTRAL BATHROOMS
Anyone for a Katsu curry? In 2019 Wagamama announced that it would be introducing gender-neutral toilets to 40% of its restaurants, allowing everyone to dine comfortably at their restaurant. This move came in celebration of London’s first Transgender Pride, with the chain announcing ‘It’s not something that most of us have to think about, whether there will be a toilet we can go to when we want to use the toilet. We wanted to make that process easier for people.’
