WHERE SUCCESSFUL ADVERTISING MEETS LGBT EQUALITY

Alberto-Culver Co., Ditka's Rules

Members:

This ad -- from the same company that makes Alberto V05 hair products, Sugar Twin and Static Guard -- tries to set itself apart as a MEN'S hair spray.

The star of the print ad is football star Mike Ditka, a longtime coach for the Chicago Bears and now the New Orleans Saints; he is also a widely-known National Football League commentator on network television. Ditka is the only active NFL coach in the Hall of Fame.

In it's masculine endeavor, the ad (Newsweek, Sept. 1, 2000) comes off as borderline homophobic by having the aging Ditka proclaim, "No stylist named Pierre. No going to the powder room with your friends. And never use 'girly' hair spray."

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User Comments
Brad
I know a lot of gay men who fit this "macho" stereotype. Don't really see this as anti-gay, just "macho shit-head."

Tony
Just because it is encourageing machismo dosn't make it anti-gay, saying that gay men can't be macho is anti-gay.

Charles
Personally, I like this ad. It separates itself from the pampering of everyone on television that you see now-a-days. I find it refreshing to know that gruff ads like this still exist.

Dazzer
Never stiff, never sticky? No queer appeal there!

RJ Petrucci
The same macho attitude can be found in MANY men who have sex with men, to think otherwise is to believe the gay stereotype makes up the largest percentage of gay men. This same macho attitude belongs to many leather men, muscle bears, and regular blue collar men who have sex with men. Not homophobic but sexist and anti-effeminate.

Matilda Wormwood
Enforcing gender roles? Yes. Sexist? Possibly. Homophobic? Not really. A gay guy could be super macho, and at the same time a straight guy could be effeminate. I am female, but cannot stand chick flicks, do not use hairspray, have gone to the bathroom with a friend once (to talk about a guy) and won't let a man cut my hair.