Following complaints

TS SuperBowl Ad Pulled
Holiday Inn Controversy Sparked

By Angela Gardner
ATLANTA
A transgender controversy is swirling around the Atlanta based Holiday Inn hotel chain. In order to publicize their $1 billion dollar improvement program the company put together a clever commercial spot and bought time during the Super Bowl. The spot featured a very sexy woman who slinks her way into a class reunion. The camera lingers on her body and face as the voiceover gives dollar figures for how much her surgical improvements cost. She finally meets a former classmate who says he never forgets a face. He looks puzzled for a moment and then incredulously asks, "Bob?" The voiceover announcer says, "It's amazing the changes you can make for a few thousand dollars."

According to a spokesperson for Holiday Inn, the idea behind the spot was to show if that spectacular a renovation could be obtained for a few thousand dollars think what the hotel could do with a billion dollars. According to the hotel's representative the ad had gotten positive response from test audiences before it's Super Bowl airing, so they decided to go ahead with the campaign.

Initial reaction from the transgender community was mostly positive. The spot, while very sexy, portrayed the transsexual character in a positive manner. She is presented as a symbol for the improvement and renovation of the hotel chain.

On January 29 Holiday Inn announced it was pulling the spot due to the complaints of some people who were offended by the content of the ad. The hotel chain's representative stated in a phone interview with TGF that complaints ran along the lines of, "distasteful," "immoral,"and "outrageous." When asked if the comments applied to the transsexual theme, or the general sexual tone of the ad, the spokesperson said that both issues were included in the negative comments. No figures were available on how many complaints were lodged.

When asked if the actress who portrayed the transsexual was in fact a transsexual the spokesperson assured TGF that she was not. A source knowledgeable with the discussions at the company's highest levels said that the ad was on shaky ground going into the Superbowl, but the original concerns had nothing to do with the primary character.

Ad On Shaky Ground Before It Aired

The main issue involved the ad agency that produced the commercial. Apparently there was already a review of the agency's work following their proposal to use a tag line too similar to that of another firm that they did not represent. The agency, and therefore the ad, were the subject of more scrutiny at the highest levels of the company than is normal.

"The concerns over the SuperBowl slot only served to really focus attention on the whole campaign," the source said.

The source said that the very first complaints about the ad came from Holiday Inn operators who were concerned that it was going to cause them problems. That put the ad on even shakier ground just as the public was beginning to contact the company.

Reaction from the transgender community was swift. Email from all over the country came pouring into the Atlanta headquarters of Holiday Inn. The spokesperson said the majority of it expressed dismay that the ad had been dropped and applauded Holiday Inn's initial actions in airing the ad. Comments in favor of the ad included, "funny," "gutsy", and "daring."

Transgenders were not completely unified in their support of the ad.

Don Romesburg, a spokesman for the Gay Lesbian Alliance for Anti-Defamation, a media watchdog group, said he contacted Holiday Inn on Friday and reported that "the people at Holiday Inn who made the decision and, at least according to them, the complaints came not just from people who were upset by seeing transsexuals represented on telelvision but also from lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people who were upset with the way in which the representation played itself out."

Transgender Forum publisher Cindy Martin acknowledged that a few people contacted the publication opposing the ad because they believed it trivialized transexuals, but the overwhelming majority of opinion was that the ad should have continued to be aired. (For TGF readers reaction click here) If you wish to express your opinion to the company their email address is hiwsprt@mindspring.com.


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