Having Fun at Someone Else's Expense

"An Open Letter to Advertisers"

By Stef Matthews

In the last several years there has been a rash of commercials (television, print and radio), that in one way or another poke fun at transgendered people. My first recollection of this type of advertisement was a Dunkin' Donuts TV commercial where the Donut baker spies on his competitor in a dress. Then there was the Ford commercial a couple of years back with a similar theme. Then the "Ladies Night" Bud girls, and who can forget last years Holiday Inn spot featuring a shapely transsexual that got pulled, even though it seemed innocent enough to us. Well corporate America, here's a wake-up call for you! We have money too! We buy things, just like every other consumer in this country and we are tired of being the butt of your advertising (I mean jokes.)

Didn't it occur to anyone that by "having fun" with a minority group in your ads, that you just cut yourself off from that share of the market? I readily admit that I'm not in the marketing business. But, from a purely logical point of view, nothing makes sense here. Did you sell more beer by getting the "good old boys" to chuckling over the fat guy in a dress? Or, did you just piss off a group of people who considered your portrayal in poor taste? Did Dunkin' sell more donuts? Did Ford sell more cars? Did U.S. West sell more phone services? Did Holiday Inn rent more rooms? I can tell you, flat out, they did not.

Let's start with Bud Light. I don't drink that stuff anyway, it gives me a headache (and that's before I saw their commercials!). Donuts. I can honestly say that since I saw that commercial I haven't bought a single Dunkin' Donut. The lease on my Ford truck expired a couple of months back and I didn't lease another (Ford, are you listening? I've leased six Ford's in a row. You blew that one!) Holiday Inn. You pulled the commercial, got tons of positive mail from us and did nothing. That, combined with a local experience, I can honestly say that you can kiss any future business from me - good bye! There are plenty of other companies out there that will have my money. Very simply put, I won't buy anything from your company because you chose to satirize something that is very important to me (and a lot of other people who, I suspect, have money you want too!)

So, the point of this is real simple. Transgendered people have money. Probably, more than "the average bear" and it is green. We do buy things that you sell. Even though the ad agency may convince you that more people will remember your spot if you do something funny (like put a really fat guy with a moustache in a dress) there is a percentage of consumers that are transgendered and do take offense and therefore don't patronize your businesses. Nobody really knows that percentage, even us! And most certainly not your ad agency, (who is after your money just as bad as you want ours!) So, next time your agency comes to you with a goofy idea that demeans a portion of the populus, think twice. Try this line on: "He doesn't really look like a woman, but he does have a pocket book with a Gold Card!"

Feel free to drop Stef a note with your comments or opinions about this story at Stef Matthews or visit her web page.