[quote name=\'clemon79\' date=\'Oct 4 2005, 12:01 PM\'][quote name=\'Matt Ottinger\' date=\'Oct 4 2005, 07:50 AM\']Still, no matter how enlightened you pretend to be, if you're only familiar with the mainstream campaign, seeing the gay one can be startling. A fellow member of this forum actually saw my jaw drop the first time I caught the spot.
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Exactly. What surprised me was the overt inclusion of what (if I were gay) I would consider to be totally offensive stereotypes. Everyone (except Wink) was COMPLETELY, well, flaming, and the location of the hotel (I said Miami Beach or Key West before, but now I'm thinking it was San Francisco) was very obviously in what is thought of as a gay population center.
The functional equivalent would have a been a version on BET looking for a hotel in Compton that includes parking for a Cadillac and serves watermelon.
I don't get it. Either the gay community thinks the ad is splendid, which I don't get, because I think it does them a great disservice, or Orbitz completely missed the boat with it, which I don't get, because I can't think any ad company would be that abjectly STUPID.
(Of course, I've learned over time, that given two options, betting on the one that would come about from people being moronic is the safe move.)
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Prior to the Wink-hosted campaign, Orbitz ran another ad with a gay theme that was a bit less stereotypical. It did conclude with "see Orbitz for all of your gay travel needs" or something along that line.
Now, on a personal note, while I don't think the ad is "splendid" and I do think it would have been better if they didn't have all of the actors playing the part like Jack from Will & Grace, a part of me is kind of happy to see an ad featuring gay characters at all, even if it is during Queer Eye on Bravo. Just a few years ago no one would have even touched an ad like this.