Image credit: Screenshot from Ralph Lauren Youtube
For the first time ever, luxury brand Ralph Lauren has featured a same-sex couple in one of their ads depicting family.
As part of their “Family is who you love” campaign, the brand featured real families in an ad that runs for almost a minute and a half. The families featured a diverse group, with an Asian family, an African-American family, different generations, and a lesbian couple.
The ad has a voiceover that says “Family is like home. It feels like home wherever you are. Family is everything. It’s about laughing and crying and just totally loving each other no matter what.”
Watch the ad below:
Jonathan Bottomley, Ralph Lauren’s chief marketing officer, said in a statement that “We live in a world where the meaning of family is bigger, broader and more personal than it has ever been before. We believe that family is one of the most positive forces and powerful unifiers for all of us today.”
Ad Age notes that the ad is a move by the 52-year-old luxury brand to attract a younger demographic. Ralph Lauren increased its investment in marketing by 18 percent in the most recent third quarter, and also saw a five percent rise in its net revenue for the quarter, which amounted to $1.7 billion.
Ad Age also notes that Ralph Lauren’s move reflects the changing focus brands have been taking when it comes to diversity in their ads. Twenty years ago, Ikea featured a same-sex couple in one of their ads. Lucky Charms , Wells Fargo, Tiffany & Co., and the Gap have also all featured same-sex couples in their advertising.
Millions last night saw an American Idol contestant kiss his boyfriend after winning a Top 20 berth. Routine for ABC.
At-the-end-of-the-day… …using a same-sex couple is a marketing device to show that Ralph Lauren is still ‘avant garde’, relevant and something to offer. Whom do any of us see today…wearing designer clothing? When was the last time any of us saw someone, under 50 – 55, wearing RL; CK; LC or even Izod? These designers are relics of the 1980s and the 1990s. I taught, 20 years, for two community colleges; my students came to class wearing ‘Joe Boxer’ pajamas and slippers, at morning classes…some, just jumped out-of-bed…neither taking a shower or using the toilet. So, invoking ‘shock and awe’,… Read more »
“Whom do any of us see today…wearing designer clothing?” Come to think of it, many profile pictures show guys RL or CK briefs. They’re readily available at outlet stores.
Hunter0500:
Who does Outlet Stores? Most of what is available in those outlet stores are either ‘seconds’ with slight imperfections or what hasn’t already sold in major stores.
Since I am 6′ 3″, at 210 lbs., I have a tailor who makes my trousers, shirts and suites. If and when I do shop, I go to Manhattan, at specialty stores, where a male of my height can be fitted property.
I do not do ‘Outlets’. It isn’t what Nathan does.
A day late and a dollar short!
yessss, Now , have any combination of “same Sex Couple” make a Child !! Good :uck
Nathan, you are spot on. The line between public and private is gone because the corporate-state public now controls the individual-private personal. This is pre-totalitarianism at best. As for thus corporate “diversity” schtick, all it is saying us yes, you too, can evolve from Ralph Lipschultz from Brooklyn into Biff from Prides Crossing or Greenwich whose has lived there on a trust fund for five generations. You just have to buy my labelled clothing made in Asian sweatshops by children working twelve hours a day if you are willing to pay a day’s wages for a tee shirt at minimum… Read more »