A Kiss Before Buying
Two gay men shopping for a dinning room table together may not seem such a surprise these days, but in 1994 nothing similar had appeared on TV. Swedish retailer Ikea portrayed the first gay couple in a TV commercial (advertisement), and though it was briefly shown in just a few American Cities, it became worldwide news.
Ten years later, gays and lesbians have become very important I television programming and movies but have rarely graced ordinary advertisements. Despite its creative bent, the industry has remained reluctant to recognize gays either in advertising or internal business policies. A 1997 survey of 50 agencies of varying sizes obtained just nine responses to Window Corporation, a marketing and public relations firm specializing in the gay market. Only three recognized samesex couples benefits, and five had an inclusive non- discrimination policy.
However, a number of advertisers are beginning to find a comfort level with gay themes, which are becoming increasingly common. The motive is not really to catch the much-solicited gay dollar but to use the cachet that gay seems to add to certain brands. By using gay themes, many forward-thinking advertisers are positioning their products as being young and fashionable.
In some cases a gay theme is used for comic effect. Early this year a New York-based company started running local commercial on the Comedy Central cable network about a woman meeting a blind date in the park. She sits next to attractive, bookish man whom she thinks may be her date until he is met by a gay who plants a big kiss on him.
1. Do you think gay people are discriminated against our society? Express your opinion in around 80-100 words.
2. According to the text, what is the main reason that gay people are shown in ads nowadays? (Give a short answer)
3. Imagine you are a shop assistant and a customer is not satisfied with a table he has bought in your shop. Apologize for having a sold table in bad condition.
4. Combine the following two sentences by replacing the underlined words with a relative pronoun to form a relative clause: a. The woman is meeting a blind date. B. The woman is sitting next to an attractive man in the park.
5. Find two words in the text containing vowels or groups of vowels which are pronounced in the same way as u in number, a in days, and o in local (underline the part of the word which contains the sound).
Two gay men shopping for a dinning room table together may not seem such a surprise these days, but in 1994 nothing similar had appeared on TV. Swedish retailer Ikea portrayed the first gay couple in a TV commercial (advertisement), and though it was briefly shown in just a few American Cities, it became worldwide news.
Ten years later, gays and lesbians have become very important I television programming and movies but have rarely graced ordinary advertisements. Despite its creative bent, the industry has remained reluctant to recognize gays either in advertising or internal business policies. A 1997 survey of 50 agencies of varying sizes obtained just nine responses to Window Corporation, a marketing and public relations firm specializing in the gay market. Only three recognized samesex couples benefits, and five had an inclusive non- discrimination policy.
However, a number of advertisers are beginning to find a comfort level with gay themes, which are becoming increasingly common. The motive is not really to catch the much-solicited gay dollar but to use the cachet that gay seems to add to certain brands. By using gay themes, many forward-thinking advertisers are positioning their products as being young and fashionable.
In some cases a gay theme is used for comic effect. Early this year a New York-based company started running local commercial on the Comedy Central cable network about a woman meeting a blind date in the park. She sits next to attractive, bookish man whom she thinks may be her date until he is met by a gay who plants a big kiss on him.
1. Do you think gay people are discriminated against our society? Express your opinion in around 80-100 words.
2. According to the text, what is the main reason that gay people are shown in ads nowadays? (Give a short answer)
3. Imagine you are a shop assistant and a customer is not satisfied with a table he has bought in your shop. Apologize for having a sold table in bad condition.
4. Combine the following two sentences by replacing the underlined words with a relative pronoun to form a relative clause: a. The woman is meeting a blind date. B. The woman is sitting next to an attractive man in the park.
5. Find two words in the text containing vowels or groups of vowels which are pronounced in the same way as u in number, a in days, and o in local (underline the part of the word which contains the sound).
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