Draft:History of LGBTQ+ Advertising

• Comment: The topic is likely notable enough for a page and likely sufficiently distinct from LGBTQ marketing, but the rapid development of the page and the main author's contrib history have made me concerned that a large language model may have been used to produce this draft.  Vanilla  Wizard 💙 19:25, 21 June 2025 (UTC)

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LGBTQ+ advertising refers to marketing campaigns and advertisements specifically targeted toward lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer consumers. The practice began in the 1970s and has evolved significantly over subsequent decades, reflecting changing social attitudes and market opportunities.

Early development (1970s–1980s)

LGBTQ+ advertising emerged in the 1970s, initially focusing on gay men through local gay newspapers and magazines. Early advertisers were predominantly companies selling "sin products" such as alcohol and tobacco, along with entertainment media promoting films and music.

Beer and spirits brands, including Miller Lite, Budweiser, Coors Light, and Jägermeister, were among the first to target gay male consumers through advertisements in gay publications during the 1970s and 1980s.

National magazines such as Christopher Street (1976–1995) and Blueboy provided platforms for advertisers to reach gay audiences. Blueboy, which had a circulation of 135,000, became notable as the first gay-oriented business to go public on Wall Street. After Dark magazine, while not exclusively gay-oriented, also attracted advertisers seeking to reach its substantial gay readership among its 300,000 subscribers.

Absolut Vodka became a significant early adopter of consistent LGBTQ advertising, beginning in 1991 with regular back-cover advertisements in The Advocate and other publications, continuing this strategy for over 30 years.

Corporate expansion (1990s)

The 1990s marked a period of increased mainstream corporate interest in LGBTQ+ advertising. Out, launched in 1992, successfully attracted mainstream advertisers including Benetton Group, Absolut Vodka, Geffen Records, and Viking Press by positioning itself as a combination of established mainstream publications.

The HIV/AIDS epidemic led Burroughs Wellcome to run a national public service campaign urging people to test themselves for HIV. The company faced controversy because it sold AZT, a treatment for HIV/AIDS, and stood to profit from increased testing.

The Advocate, founded in 1967, underwent a major redesign in 1992 to appeal to corporate advertisers, removing adult-oriented advertisements and switching from newsprint to glossy paper.

By 1994, major corporations including Apple Computer, Philip Morris International, and Time Warner were actively pursuing gay consumers in LGBTQ+ magazines like Out and The Advocate.

A significant milestone occurred in 1994 when Swedish retailer IKEA aired what is considered the first mainstream television advertisement featuring a gay male couple. The commercial, which showed two men shopping for dining room furniture, aired only after 9:30 p.m. in select markets, including Los Angeles, New York, Philadelphia, and Washington, D.C. The advertisement generated controversy, including a bomb threat at a Long Island store.

Also in 1994, Subaru learnt that lesbians were among its top consumer segments and began targeting them in both LGBTQ+ and mainstream media. Some ads featured taglines with double meanings, such as “Get Out. And Stay Out” and “It's Not a Choice. It's the Way We're Built.” Subaru also developed a notable "gay vague" advertising strategy, designed to reach both gay and mainstream audiences. It featured billboards and print ads with coded references such as license plates reading "XENA-LVR" (referencing Xena: Warrior Princess, popular with lesbian audiences) and "P-TOWNIE" (referencing Provincetown, Massachusetts). The company later featured lesbian tennis player Martina Navratilova in commercials and LGBTQ-targeted print advertisements.

In 1995, when HIV/AIDS was taboo and there were no effective treatments yet, Nike ran an inspirational commercial featuring HIV-positive runner Ric Munoz, with its famous tagline, "Just do it," however it did not identify that he was gay.

Mainstream adoption (2000s–2010s)

The early 2000s saw expanded participation from automotive companies, with Jaguar, Volkswagen, and Volvo joining Saab, Saturn, and Subaru in advertising to LGBTQ+ consumers through national gay publications. By 2011, major corporations pursuing LGBTQ+ consumers included American Airlines, Campbell Soup Company, General Motors, Macy's, Orbitz, PepsiCo, Procter & Gamble, Unilever, and Wells Fargo. By 2019, numerous companies supported Pride globally, including Listerine, Tesco, Barclays, Amazon, M&S, Ralph Lauren, Boohoo, IKEA, Dr. Martens, Primark, Adidas, Under Armour, Converse, Skittles, Virgin Atlantic, Reebok, Levi’s, Apple, Banana Republic, Abercrombie & Fitch, Starbucks, ASOS, and Disney.

Health

As more HIV/AIDS treatments became available, Merck & Co. and ViiV Healthcare faced criticism for upbeat advertisements featuring attractive, muscled models, which some argued misrepresented the severity of the disease. Despite widespread increasing interest in LGBTQ+ marketing, Pfizer did not include gay men in its Viagra advertising campaigns.

Pharmaceutical companies started to include gay men in commercials by 2018. Gilead Sciences, maker of Truvada, aired TV commercials featuring a gay male couple, though the ads did not explicitly mention the drug or PrEP. A year later, Gilead Sciences introduced its first national TV campaign for Biktarvy featuring black, Latino, male, female, gay, bisexual and transgender actors.

An ad campaign in New York and Los Angeles warned gay men of the dangers of using Viagra with crystal meth and asked Pfizer to stop promoting the drug for sexual enhancement without proper warnings.

Retail

Retailers Gap and JCPenney attracted attention for their gay-inclusive ads in the early 2010s, including depictions of lesbians with wedding rings and their children in a Mother’s Day catalog. Later that year, JCPenney teamed up with lesbian comedian Ellen DeGeneres for a holiday commercial, which drew backlash from conservative group One Million Moms.

Target Corporation began selling Pride-themed merchandise and creating in-store Pride (LGBTQ culture) displays starting in 2015, contributing to the commercialization of Pride Month.

After Olympian Caitlyn Jenner transitioned around 2016, she appeared in campaigns from fashion retailer H&M and MAC Cosmetics, where she got her own brand of lipstick and 100% of the proceeds benefited the M.A.C. AIDS Fund Transgender Initiative.

Other

Viacom launched Logo TV in 2005 as an advertiser-supported, LGBTQ-targeted television network. The channel grew from serving 13 million homes at launch to more than 50 million by 2013. In 2013, Amazon ran a commercial for its Kindle Paperwhite featuring a gay couple, two years before nationwide marriage equality was legalized in the U.S. The 2019 WorldPride march in New York City attracted over 3 million attendees, 150,000 marchers, and 70 corporate sponsors, including L'Oréal, which had 860 employees participate.

Contemporary challenges (2020s)

The 2020s brought new challenges, with corporations facing backlash from conservative groups for LGBTQ+ inclusivity, while also being criticized for pinkwashing.

A 2021 study found that 25 major corporations, including CVS, AT&T, Walmart, and Comcast, advertised to LGBTQ+ consumers while simultaneously donating over $10 million to politicians opposing LGBTQ+ rights.

In 2023, Anheuser-Busch faced a Bud Light boycott after partnering with transgender influencer Dylan Mulvaney, leading to significant sales declines. Similarly, Target relocated Pride displays following conservative backlash. By 2025, 39% of companies reported scaling back LGBTQ+ marketing efforts. 

Despite challenges, many brands continued Pride collections, including Levi's, Diesel, Guess, Abercrombie & Fitch, Hollister, Converse, Puma, and Vans. In 2023, Trojan (brand) partnered with gay influencer Kyle Krieger for its Bare Skin Raw condoms with a sexy, tennis-themed ad that received nearly 12,000 likes.

Market demographics

Early demographic research relied on Alfred Kinsey's studies (1948–1953), which suggested 10% of men were gay.

Contemporary estimates suggest LGBTQ+ individuals represent 7.6% of the U.S. population, with generational differences:

• Generation Z (ages 18–26): 28%
• Millennials (ages 27–42): 16%
• Baby Boomers (ages 59–77): 7%

The global LGBTQ+ community had an estimated $3.9 trillion in spending power in 2023. The United States Census recorded 646,500 same-sex couples in 2020.

See also

• LGBT culture
• LGBT marketing
• Pink money
• Rainbow capitalism
• Pride Month
• LGBT demographics
• HIV/AIDS
• Advertising
• Marketing