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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