WHERE SUCCESSFUL ADVERTISING MEETS LGBTQ+ EQUALITY

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Company: Converse
    View Company Scorecard / Contact Company
Brand: Converse
Ad Title: Grandmama: Hairdrier Revised
Business Category: Sneakers/Shoes
Media Outlets: Television
Country: United States
Region: North America
Agency: Houston Effler & Partners
Year: 1993
Target: Mainstream
Company: Converse
    View Company Scorecard / Contact Company
Brand: Converse
Ad Title: Grandmama: Hairdrier Revised
Business Category: Sneakers/Shoes
Media Outlets: Television
Country: United States
Region: North America
Agency: Houston Effler & Partners
Year: 1993
Target: Mainstream
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Theme(s)

Camp/Gay Drag

Dude Looks Like a Lady

Theme Breakdown

AdRespect Score: 
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Dressed as his "Grandmama," NBA star Larry Johnson appears in a beauty shop, getting hair and nails done. She describes how the special sneakers helped her "cut quicker and stop faster" to beat Kevin Johnson. "I hope he heals quick too."

Johnson then bursts into the salon, demanding another game and she says, "Uh oh, looks like I'm going to need a rain check on my bikini wax, Louise."

This campaign ran for years with numerous additions. While it started off as the same old Toostie/Mrs. Doubtfire joke of a man dressed as a woman, it later took on gay sensibilities as with this ad. Another even made a play on the "Wizard of Oz."

The earlier ad had the coincidentally gay/trans-friendly tagline: "It's what's inside that counts."

This ad is a classic example of the old-fashioned joke of a straight-man-in-women's-clothes. In the American nomenclature, a man wears women's clothes usually for two reasons: as a joke or if he's gay. This commercial is "safe" because we know from real life that Johnson isn't gay and that he's dressing up for fun in the commercial.

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Beads
Company: Converse
Brand: Converse
Country: United States
Region: North America
Year: 1993

AdRespect Score:


Grandmama: Aeroglide (Larry Johnson)
Company: Converse
Brand: Converse
Country: United States
Region: North America
Year: 1991

AdRespect Score:


Old Lady in a Shoe
Company: Converse
Brand: Converse
Country: United States
Region: North America
Year: 1994

AdRespect Score:


Oz
Company: Converse
Brand: Converse
Country: United States
Region: North America
Year: 1994

AdRespect Score:


Proud To Be
Company: Nike
Brand: Converse
Country: United States
Region: US National
Year: 2023

AdRespect Score:

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