Sexual Removal

Although some companies kept their sexuality ambiguous some campaigns did begin to specifically target the gay market. Absolut Vodka’s campaign towards the gay community since 1981, has been revolutionary in recognizing the gay market and supporting gay advertising; however, their advertisements, as Helene Shugart suggests, "skirt the realities and implications of homosexuality by desexualizing". Through desexualization Absolut can reach the gay market by supporting the gay community, yet avoiding the uncomfortable sexual representations. In the first advertisement, it shows that the company supports gay marriage, but the bottles allow the company to remove any human connection. Furthermore, it is not only Absolut that desexualizes gays, but also other companies. This AAA ad is targeting the gay community and the only reference to homosexuality is the gay pride flag. By not showing gays in a romantic situation it removes what is uncomfortable for people about homosexuality: their sexuality.

If many companies are beginning to support the gay community and there is less negative representation in the media, then the question becomes why there is still such inequality for the gay community? Although it may seem that the visibility of gays in media and advertising symbolizes their acceptance in mainstream culture, it is really representative the the commodification of homosexuality. Critic Ragusa states that companies, "fascination with homosexual identity is partly motivated by the new desire to sell more than commodities; by postulating products as symbolic signs of success, agents creating consumer culture credit consumption with the power to surpass class representation" . Thus, by equating consumption to social legitimacy companies make it appear that homosexual advertising symbolizes their acceptance in society, when in reality gays have not found equality through consumption.