Las Vegas. A city of gambling, alcohol, and sex. For
straight people. These adverts were released by R&R Partners, as a way of
attracting more gay people to Las Vegas, which has developed the image of being
a straight-dominated city. There was a whole collection of adverts created, but
let’s just focus on the one above for now.
So in an attempt to change this image they have created an
advert where same-sex couples seem to be having a fun holiday in a safe space
without fear of discrimination or homophobia. Shrum, Wyer, and O’Guinn (1998)
found that what people see in adverts can influence their beliefs about a
place, situation, or even a group of people. So when gay people see this
advertisement they use it as a source of social proof, and their belief about
Las Vegas is likely to shift towards them believing that it is a safe place for
gay people. But that isn’t all. This advert takes the commonly used idea,
“Everyone’s welcome, even gay people,” and turns it on its head. The phrase
“Everyone’s welcome even straight people” makes gay people the in-group and
straight people the out-group. This is consistent with a gay person’s view of
the world, thus making the advert more relatable to them (Deshpandé, &
Stayman, 1994). Another reason why this advert is effective is its use of
young, attractive gay people. Many studies have shown that physical
attractiveness can facilitate attitude change (Baker & Gilbert, 1977;
Chaiken, 1979). According to Pratkanis (2007), this is because we want to be a
part of their world (cue The Little Mermaid Soundtrack).
Las Vegas. A city of safety, fun, and heat for all sexual
orientations. That is the impression that these adverts wanted to create, and
it may have worked for me. I feel a trip to Las Vegas coming on.
Oliver Stoney
Oliver Stoney
Baker, Michael J. and Gilbert A. Churchill, Jr. (1977), "The Impact
of Physically Attractive Models on Advertising
Evaluations," Journal of
Marketing Research, 14, 538-555.
Chaiken, Shelly (1979), "Communicator Physical Attractiveness
and Persuasion," Journal of
Personality and Social Psychology, 37, 1387-1397.
Deshpande, R., &
Stayman, D. M. (1994). A tale of two cities: Distinctiveness theory and
advertising effectiveness. Journal of
Marketing Research, 31, 57–64.
Pratkanis,
A. R. (2007). The science of social influence: Advances and future progress. Philadelphia, PA: Psychology Press.
Shrum,
L. J., Robert S. Wyer, Jr., and Thomas C. O’Guinn. 1998. The Effect of
Television Consumption
on Social Perceptions: The Use of
Priming Procedures to Investigate Psychological Processes. Journal of
Consumer Research, 24, 447– 458.
Really well written and argued.
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