The fmcg market is a very active participant in Marketing the Rainbow: hundreds of brands and dozens of multinationals are doing very original things in that area. This is quite remarkable, because the amounts involved are small – but in addition to the fact that LGBT consumers have higher brand loyalty (and a tendency to reward companies that act as ally) and will therefore make repeat purchases, they are also often seen as trendsetter: ‘if the gays drink it, it must be hip and happening’. And there is an element of CSR involved: doing good, giving support.
Especially when it comes to alcoholic beverages, the battle is fierce: see my articles about Gay wine? Yes, Gay Wine!, Queer Beer, and The Battle of the Vodkas. But also in the non-alcoholic sector there is intense flirting with the ladies, gentlemen and other members of the LGBT community. For example, I previously wrote about Sprite: Hate as a marketing tool and Coca-Cola blunders and gloats. But the smaller brands also like to contribute.
Sourcy
Let’s start in the Netherlands. Vrumona (owned by Heineken since 1968) brand Sourcy introduced in 1981 as a competitor of Spa, brought us the TV advertisement “Full Dutch Character” in 2017. In addition, very Dutch, a same-sex marriage was also depicted, with grooms kissing under a soft spring water shower.
CANN
In the US we saw the colorful and exuberant (“queer-founded”) CANN, a “social tonic”. They themselves exclaimed: “WTF is a social tonic? Drinkable, delicious cannabis that is as fizzy, refreshing and social as your favorite cocktail, but without the alcohol and hangover.” And also “Give up the booze, not the buzz.”
As part of their 2021 ad campaign, the brand teamed up with singer/model Ken XY and Olympic medalist Gus Kenworthy. Drag artists Symone, Gigi Goode and Rosy Thorn also participated in the campaign, which was a collaboration with queer collective House of Avalon.
For #PrideMonth, Cann, in collaboration with Weedmaps, brought together pioneering LGBT+ artists, activists and allies for an iconic music video celebrating queer love, inclusivity – and cannabis.
“Taste So Good” (The Cann Song) is a rallying cry for not only saying “gay” but shouting it from the rooftops (except, maybe, in Florida?). It’s an anthem to celebrate our differences – because a little different tastes so good #Cann. Because they won no less than 5 Clio Cannabis Awards (a real sub-category of the Clio awards!) with this campaign, a flashy remix was also made of it.
Clean drink
Swedish organic drink brand Clean Drink released this rather racy Valentine’s ad in 2020, featuring a lot of nudity and sexual suggestion. Starting with a nude (censored) shower scene, some clumsy sexy dancing and a funny sexually suggestive bedroom scene, the ad ends with the message “Happy Valentine’s Day”, in Swedish.
And all that is also produced very sustainably!
Dr. Pepper
Since 1885, Dr Pepper has been marketed (or let’s say ‘consumer’ to be sure) and is therefore one of the oldest soft drink brands in the world.
Since 2015, Jeff Guarini has starred in the sweet drink’s campaigns, as Lil’ Sweet. He is an American singer, musician, actor, television host, and record producer, who came in second on the first season of American Idol in 2002.
While Lil’ Sweet’s character isn’t gay per se, he acts like a “free spirit,” unafraid to embrace his feminine side. His speech and the accessories he uses (such as a pink car) refer to “the rainbow”. He is a bit reminiscent of Prince, also a “fluid” personality. There are about 35 commercials with Lil’ Sweet.
Fun fact: During World War II, there was a syndicated radio program called The 10–2–4 Time: According to this program, it was “Dr Pepper Time” at 10, 2, and 4 AM. A distant predecessor of Coca Cola Light break.
The Dr Pepper affiliated 7 up is not a small brand, but has not done much on Marketing the Rainbow. A 2002 TV ad titled “Captive Audience” was quickly pulled by the company for clichéd “prison jokes” after protests from some 100 advocacy groups. A 2013 commercial also contained a funny gay situation, in which a bearded man, drinking 7 up, ends up sitting on the lap of a hefty gentleman who likes him… uh.
Icelandic Glacial
The Coca-Cola Light Break 21 years later… Here comes the Icelandic glacier. It’s fun, naughty and has a gay twist.
Icelandic Glacial water comes from the Ölfus spring, one of the largest in the world. The brand said, “Enjoy a break that’s as shirtless as it is satisfying. We teamed up with Instagram heartthrob and King of Man Buns Brock O’Hurn to treat you to a break that’s #HotAsIce.”
Mixwell
An honorable mention goes to Mixwell, a “SoCal-based, organically-made super-tasty drink mixer.” This video puts a surprising spin on patriotism and “strategic” thinking. The ending in particular is, uh… different.
A mixer for those who mix well, and not for those who don’t.
The brand added: Our values are really very important to us. So important that we decided that our advertising dollars would be used to name the kind of people we don’t want as customers, the kind of people we think are making the world worse:
• People who coined the term ‘alternative facts’ in light of objective reality.
• People who say “All Lives Matter!” on their bumpers.
• People who win gold in the mental gymnastics because they call an attack on democracy ‘patriotic’.
“But why? In the end, isn’t a company just about selling?” Of course, if you don’t care where those dollars end up. Us? For example, we don’t buy chicken sandwiches from drive-thrus that send money to groups in countries where they support the execution of gays.” (note: that chicken is about the homophobic fast food chain Chick-fil-a) Of which note.
Truly
Flying cows and drag queens. As a sponsor of RuPaul’s Drag Race, Truly Iced Tea (owned by The Boston Beer Company) released a video featuring RPDR’s Queen Monet X Change.
IRN-BRU
Irn-Bru (“iron brew”) is a Scottish carbonated soft drink, often described as “Scotland’s other national drink” (after whisky). Introduced in 1901, and known for its bright orange color and unique taste. The brand also has its own tartan. It has been Scotland’s best-selling soft drink for over a century.
In 2021, the brand enlisted the fantastic drag queen Fairy Godmaw to make Christmas even more “phenomenal”, with two commercials. The ads – mainly shared as videos on Twitter – feature RuPaul’s Drag Race UK Season 2 winner Lawrence Chaney. This clip was called Irn Bingo, the other one
“Festive ginger bells, a wobbly wand and a healthy dose of pantomime wit should get you a few laughs this Christmas.”
The other video features a “Panto,” a type of musical comedy stage production designed for family entertainment. It was developed in England and is performed all over the UK, especially over the Christmas and New Year period.
Earlier they had made a gay joke in a print advertisement (bottom right): “We’d go straight for IRN-BRU”
Perrier gave Mona Lisa a different historical perspective in a smooth lifestyle video, intimately setting three ladies on a staircase. Pellegrino showed two gentlemen, just like Vita Cola, while frtiz-kola made naughty puns.
Then we had the Coca-Cola brand Malvern that had two older English gentlemen hold hands in love (“not quite Middle England”), NAYA who works together with the lesbian athlete Missy Giove and a drag queen on a bicycle who is hungry and thirsty , Pom who accompanied their phallic bottle with a condom because it was “the new shape of perfection”, two merry gentlemen in front of Mount Franklin – which apparently gets sprayed around like Sourcy, and another beautiful Icelandic “sled dog” from Iceland Spring – with a six pack.
And those were just a few examples.
Alfred Verhoeven is a marketer and is researching the theme Marketing the Rainbow. He previously wrote for ILOVEGAY about Ben& Jerry’s, Get Woke, Go Broke, Pronouns, About those rainbows, Alphabet soup, M&M’s and the lesbian invasion, Magnum and the lesbian wedding, Marketing the Rainbow: the process and all that came before it, Sport and (un)sportmanship, Why you need a supplier diversity program, BeNeLux LGBTIQ+ Business Chamber (BGLBC), From B2C and B2B to B2G and G2G (oh, and G2C), The Men from Atlantis, The other kind of cruising, Booking.com, Home Deco, Haters and trolls: the ‘letter to the editor’ of the 21st century, 5 Bizarre LGBT Videos, TRANSparency, Transgender persons as a target group, Matchmaking, 5 videos that went viral, From Representation To Respect, Cultural sensitivities and social involvement in marketing, 4 reasons to practice diversity and The Rules of Market Segmentation.