The Coors Light beer ad was created and released in 2011. It portrays three gay men who are dancing behind the company’s logo and the slogan “Out Is Refreshing.” One of them is holding a bottle of beer in his hand while another is touching his partner’s arm. A small sign at the right bottom corner says that Coors was nominated as one of the best places to work for LGBT Equality. There are words on the background of the ad, such as “exciting,” “magnetic,” “refreshing,” “energetic,” “clever,” “fun,” and others (Gress). They express the idea of the brand, which is fun and celebration. The words “equality” and “freedom” represent the symbolic nature of the ad (Gress). The company is responsible for raising one of the most important issues of the 21st century, such as the freedom of expression and sexual orientation. The ad’s purpose is to increase sales of beer while promoting same-sex relationships and increasing a loyal target audience.
The ad’s target audience is the representatives of sexual minorities and those who support them. The Coors Brewing Company has segmented itself specifically for the LGBT community. In Western culture, ads targeting homosexual people are quite common. This makes this such person more attentive to content and more likely to use advertising information to make purchases. With the help of this marketing ploy, the company has demonstrated its tolerance towards sexual minorities and gained additional customers. The ad’s audience, those who are discriminated, and whose rights are violated, must feel support from the company. Violations based on sexual orientation and gender identity are documented around the world. However, such people must be able to freely exercise their rights and live their lives without fear.
The strong side of the ad’s ethical appeal is that the company respects human dignity and all forms of sexual orientation. Its values are in line with those of the target audience since the message raises an important social issue of equality and sexual freedom. The company has made accurate and respectful assumptions about LGBT supporters and established a good relationship with the audience. The advertisement presents the beer company as credible and trustworthy since it does not stand aside from important social issues. In general, the Coors Brewing Company has the reputation of a supporter of the LGBT community, gender equality, and other minorities’ rights. The Coors Brewing Company has been a patron of the Denver Pride Parade for about twenty years (Gress). However, there is a weak side of the ad’s ethical appeal as well. It seems that representing LGBT people is just a clever marketing ploy to attract the attention of new customers. If everyone is talking about a controversial ad and product, then more people will start buying it.
The ad demonstrates strong logic in showing a familiar product with a deeper sense. It does not contain the optimal amount of information about the qualities and properties of the product. Instead, it is designed to refresh the brand name in the memory of loyal consumers who are well aware of the properties of this beer. The hallmark of this advertisement is the lack of information about beer properties. An accent is put on the indirect message that supports the LGBT community (Gress). The ad is convincing because of its implicit message hidden in the words in the background that motivates modern society to respect equality. However, it does not provide much direct evidence to support the idea of freedom of sexual orientation. Besides, in such ads, it is important not to lose other potential clients by targeting only LGBT supporters.
The ad’s emotional appeal is strong enough to evoke fair emotions of excitement, inspiration, and desire. These feelings are called with the help of the men’s facial expressions and words in the background. The men look happy; they are smiling and enjoying their lives, which is in line with the Coors Brewing Company’s image of positivity and cheerfulness. The words “confident,” “courageous,” and “bold” raise the spirit and evoke empowerment (Gress). For modern people, the freedom of sexual orientation is important, so the words “freedom” and “equality” effectively involve potential buyers in consumption.
Another strength of this advertisement lies in the fact that the company has used the principles of informing and raising public attention to an acute social problem. The form of presenting information is visual, fun, interesting, easy, accessible, and in demand by the consumer. This form of information presentation evokes strong emotions, surprises, and attracts attention6. Everyone knows that popularity begins with getting noticed, and this ad of beer perfectly deals with this task, making a consumer think about a product and its message. Sexual orientation and gender identity are integral aspects of the inner essence of a person. Discrimination and violation of rights on these grounds are unacceptable. Thus, the company has attempted to demonstrate tolerance and support for the rights of LGBT people by creating an ad with a socially important background.
Work Cited
Gress, John. “Chicago Advertising Photography: Coors Releases One of My LGBT Ads.” Chicago Photographer & Director of Photography. 2011, Web.