Brands are taking a stand to promote diversity and equality in their marketing efforts but the reaction to Adidas‘ recent same-sex ad proves that as a society we still have a long way to go and, while times are changing, not everyone’s mindsets are.
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On Valentine’s Day the sports brand took to Instagram to share an image of a same-sex couple and, while the shot shows only the bottom half of their bodies, they appear to be kissing. The brand captioned the image with, “The love you take is equal to the love you make.” But unfortunately the post was met with a lot of hate.
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Comments were derogatory and range from slurs like “F*** homosexuals” to “Shame on you adidas!!! I’m going to Nike now.”
According to Metro.co.uk, one commenter wrote, “WTF Adidas? This day is for boy and girl, when they are a couple. Not for lesbians, stupid adidas.” But Adidas had the perfect response to this narrow-minded view.
They wrote, “No, this day is for LOVE. Happy Valentine’s Day.”
It’s a simple but powerful statement and one that many people have applauded the company for making.
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Commenter kelz_amber wrote, “Go Adidas !! This is what love is about, loving who you choose to love…”
“Great advertisement!” iberico_11 wrote, adding, “I just saw how you defended this girls in Valentine’s day [sic] and got to the conclusion that you are more than just a company but a family!”
Adidas isn’t the only company which has confirmed its commitment to LGBT rights.
Among the other big brands who have taken a stand for equality are J.C. Penney, which featured real life same-sex dads in 2012 and received backlash from One Million Moms, who slammed the company for promoting “sin” through its ads.
Microsoft has shown its support with an advert featuring the marriage of two women — comments on their YouTube video include:
“This is horrible,” vanislanderandy wrote, adding, “I can’t believe everybody’s jumping on the bandwagon to shove acceptance of gay marriage down everybody’s throat. I’m disgusted.”
And one from commenter Mos Rus who wrote, “Our country does nothing anymore other than rebelling against God and His word. I am glad I don’t work for Microsoft. This would drive me to quite [sic] or I would vstreet [sic] preach in front of their headquarters and I would get fired for it anyway. God have mercy on our rebellious nation.”
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Ray-Ban too launched a moving campaign entitled “Never Hide” which showed two men (dressed Don Draper style) holding hands while they walked through the city.
It’s great that big brands are taking a stand for equality but it’s time that consumers got with the times too.
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