Week 5 Blog Post

As a consumer, we often do not think too much about the content of an advertisement. However, when we do analyze advertisements in more depth, there may be a variety of interpretations. This week, we examined a study in which the researchers invited college-aged male participants to examine gay-vague advertisements and explain the context of the situation displayed in the advertisement. The results were very creative stories. Most of the participants were confused about what exactly they were observing and others introduced characters, such as girlfriends, who were not in the photo. Overall, the results of the study were extremely intriguing. The research states in the conclusion that "advertisers and audiences create meaning together, that neither group controls that meaning, and that these interpretations are not stable even within the narratives of the same participant". I think that this is an important idea to understand, not only in gay-vague advertising, but in all advertising, especially when dealing with diversity. Advertisers may think of an idea and believe that the audience will view it a certain way, however, that is not always the case. Therefore, it is important for us as strategic communications specialists to see a wider perspective and make sure we accounting for the diversity within the target audience in order to effectively communicate the message. However, the thing that makes gay-vague advertising different is that their strategy is to make advertisements that have gay innuendo but could be interpreted differently and therefore expands the audience of the product. This strategy can be effective but can also promote confusion and sometimes distrust towards the brand and what are the standards and values the brand 
upholds. 

Bibliography:

J. Lambiase, G. Griffin, and K. Pashupati. (2013). “Symbolic interactions in sexual scripts: Improvisation and male consumer responses to gay-vague advertising.” In N. Tindall and R. Waters’ (Eds.) Coming Out of the Closet: Exploring LGBT Issues in Strategic Communication with Theory and Research, pp. 108-121. New York: Peter Lang.