OurScene TV – life/style tv for the LGBTQ community

I am the first to agree that despite all the serious issues in gay America today, sometimes all you want is a little entertainment. With the recognition of the power of the “pink dollar” I’m encouraged at the range of advertisers on all shows with gay themes – from Modern Family to Rupaul’s Drag Race. But I must question your judgment when you choose to advertise on Logo’s the A-List.

Yes, you can tick off the little pink and lavender box about gay advertising. Logo is a gay-channel, gay-focused and gay-themed.  Any gayer and it would be Bravo. 

Yes, the show leverages the voyeuristic, can’t-stop-looking-at-the train-wreck style reality show that has made the Housewives franchise so successful.

Yes, the images appeal to a demographic with enough disposal income to buy your products – and lots of them.

But at a time when caricatures of gays are espoused by politicians, religious figures and tea-baggers, it would seem that there are better shows where you can spend your money.  Of course it would be better if you gave the money to organizations that really help gay people like the Trevor Project (http://www.thetrevorproject.org/) or the Anti-Violence Project (http://www.avp.org). But I understand that sometimes the dollars are earmarked specifically for advertising and you have to spend it on advertising.

Now, I could say I’m against advertising on this show because the guys on the A-List are the worst of gay society -- so focused on themselves, their lives and how they look that real issues are never discussed.  Remember the episode of Queer as Folk when the little twink overdoses in the club bathroom and all the queens essentially step over him?  These guys are those guys. It is quite simply, gross.

But let’s take this from a strategic business and customer relationship point-of-view. A decision to advertise on a show is not just a marketing decision made in a vacuum. It reflects upon your corporate brand, your commitment to diversity and should be conduit to a better relationship with your target audience. So I ask you:

- Doesn’t the proliferation of this “housewife” category of shows lower the value of advertising on any individual show?

- How does it look internally and externally when you spend so much money advertising on this show with these caricatured and far less on actual impactful programs, organizational sponsorships and your Employee Resource Groups?

- Don’t the various social media outlets, not to mention organizational sponsorship programs offer a more strategic way to reach this target demographic? With a better ROI?

- Are you perhaps relying too much on your PR/advertising agencies to tell you what is “hot” in the gay market, as opposed to determining whether this show is really aligned with your corporate objectives?

Now I’m not saying that you have to spend all the money on documentaries and other serious fare. (Although if you want to got that way In the Life is a good one to look at.) But there are myriad other shows that are far more deserving of you advertising dollars and it really just takes a small amount of effort to find them. 

Please consider withdrawing your advertising from the A-List and putting the money to better use for your company and brand.

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