Earls Restaurants Ltd., Announcement

This ad protrays a stereotype of the male gay person, which in fact most do not fall into this category. This ad undermines the importance of being truthful to those that love you and that you love and vice versa. It also lowers the respect of the individual in a very important part of their life of being able to finally (come out) and be proud of who they are on the inside.

I am surprised at how intense the responses were to this ad. When it comes to this ad most people either adore it or loathe it. I am somehow calmly unaffected by this ad.

I find the ad gently humorous and, particularly considering the main charecters actions at the end, overall positive. It seems that the family is going after the food to avoid dealing with the announcement, but as the commercial ends, the main character is eating off the plate of the "boyfriend" and vice versa. It now becomes a case where the family is so comfortable with their gay son that the food becomes more important, even to him. If a gay person had actually created it, it might have been a little more sensitive, but on the whole it seems fairly positive.

Clearly this ad was written and directed by a straight person. If not, the creator suffers from massive self-loathing issues.The fact that the actor portraying the gay kid is such a stereotype makes this commercial eveb more reprehensible.I am not familiar with Earls, but rest assured, if given the opportunity, I will pass.Maybe the follow-up commercial can have Earl's food actually "curing" the boy from his homosexuality.

At the end of the commercial, the young man samples a bit of the food off the black man's plate. We are to infer that these two are in fact a couple. Though it was not necessary to make the ad work, it was a nice touch to see a mixed-race couple represented on screen.

Very cute.

Earls may have another explanation but clearly this character portrayed as an awkward gay person who somewhat seems contemptable because he has some annoying characteristics, such as speaking with a siblance, being goofy and mockable like the kid on the playground that bullies beat up. Clearly the viewer is made to feel little sympathy for him once his family is given their meal. The commercial mocks one of the hardest discussions gay and transgendered people have with their families, having done that recently I'm just fuming. I wrote to Earls asking to have it removed and I'm passing the information onto GBLT groups here in Calgary.

Life should not be so serious that we cannot find humour in such a commercial. Yes, perhaps, some of us stuggled through out coming out experiences but a simple commercial cannot devalue those experiences. Only the individual has that kind of power.

Cute commercial. Although I can see how the militantly anti-humor separationalist lesbian types might object to treating ANY subject with levity, this commercial sets just the right tone for those of us in the 'post-gay' millenium.

Well, I just wanted to cast my vote in favour of this ad, after having read the po-faced comments of others here. People, we are lost if we can't laugh along with ourselves. I loved the implication that the guy is one half of a couple, and his partner, like the rest of the family, is of the opinion that his being gay takes second place to enjoying good food...

The ad is a hilarious and real slice of life. The Calgary woman who commented that the actor is goofy and mockable needs to get a reality check: the character represents a fair number of gay men I know and I don't find him contemptable in the least. Would it have been acceptable to you if he had been "butcher"? (of couse I mean more manly and not the man who who sells meat and poultry). Get a sense of humor, honey. Sure it's a difficult moment to come out, but a moment of levity -- that it's all just part of living -- is wonderful and kudos for Earls for even having the idea. But if YOU want to "beat" him up, go try...but I'll bet he can whoop ya.

Wow, that Earl's boy is cute. I hope I see more of him. (hee hee) :-)

This commercial represents a more advanced type of humour that I feel gay people develop as they become more comfortable with themselves and are not so "wounded" by the whole coming out process. I think it "normalizes" the experience of coming out as just one of those things that a family may go through. I think it's helpful! It shows how the experience doesn't have to be so tragic!

I find the add gently humorous and particularly considering the main charecters actions at the end, overall positive. It seems that the family is going after the food to avoid dealing with the announcement, but as the commercial ends, the main character is eating off the plate of the "boyfriend" and vice versa. It now becomes a case where the family is so comfortable with their gay son that the food becomes more important, even to him. If a gay person had actually created it, it might have been a little more sensitive, but on the whole it seems fairly positive.

Clearly this ad was written and directed by a straight person. If not, the creator suffers from massive self-loathing issues. The fact that the actor portraying the gay kid is such a stereotype makes this commercial even more reprehensible. I am not familiar with Earls, but rest assured, if given the opportunity, I will pass. Maybe the follow-up commercial can have Earl's food actually "curing" the boy from his homosexuality.

Lisa is absolutely right.

The obvious subtext here is that this man is on the verge of coming out, a very difficult and important moment in any gay person's development. However, before he can utter his message, the meal is served and the presumed enjoyment of it takes precedence over the completion of his statement. The sad truth in today's world, as evidenced by the savage beating of Aaron Webster last fall in Stanley Park, is that people still feel it is acceptable to mock, hate and kill homosexuals because they are different.

Clearly no one in your family has had to deal with the pain, sorrow and suffering that gay men and women experience while developing the individual awareness and self-respect necessary to come out to themselves and others. This milestone is not something to be diminished and made light of. Your company and its advertising clearly do not understand any of that, nor any of the fear and anguish experienced by those men and women whose families have been torn apart by members who refuse to accept them as they are.

If this ad were produced to demonstrate, in some sort of backhanded way, Earls as a gay-friendly, inclusive, family restaurant, you have failed miserably. All you have demonstrated is a callous disregard for the thoughts and feelings of a portion of your clientele, your staff, and their families.

Shame on Earls, and you Mr. Fuller, for allowing such an insensitive and misguided creative execution to see the light of day. I hope you will understand the inappropriate nature of this ad and remove it from the air at once. It's not something one would expect from an organization that claims, "every customer should be treated like an honoured guest."

Perhaps this commercial serves to tell us more about ourselves than anything else. Just look at these entrenched opinions...

Earls ought to be commended portraying homosexuality. It is normalised and brought to the mainstream. The sexuality of the lead character is humorously understated. If some of commercials detracters knew how much of the lead character's own journey this commercial unintentionally echoes they may have been less ready to complain that it is based on stereotypes. I am black but do not rush to condemn any commercial or television program that suggests that blacks might be speak in 'Black English' because some do. I might complain however that a more diverse portrayal of the black community might be in order. We all ought to thank Earls for moving families with homosexual members to the spotlight. And only then may we suggest that they need to do it more often and with a more diverse representation of individuals. I find the actor's work in this commercial refreshing and his voice appropriately sensitive yet assertive. Great work.

There is more behind the scenes than we could realize. Keep making positive imprints into people's minds to be less fearful of exposing yourself as gay.

I'm irritated at the comments here that this boy is obviously some kind of a disgrace to gays and lesbians because he's femme. Excuse me, I'm femme, and I act and sometimes talk like that. (Sadly not as cute as the boy in the ad!) I don't think it was mocking to Queer people and I think some of us are a little insecure in our masculinity/femininity if this boy is so troublesome. God forbid they ever put me in a commercial, then! Anyway, the boy's obviously not traumatized by his family's failure to pay attention. I don't think it trivializes the importance of coming out -- the whole point is that the food is so good that *even* such an important announcement could be ignored.

I cannot believe that there are so many people who think this is a good portrayal. I think it is demeaning and condescending.

I represent the actor who is on this commercial. This is him. He is this person. He is not even an actor. He is a producer but I suggested him for the commercial because the casting director and everyone at the production company and Earls all wanted someone who would be legitimate and not an actor who didn't know the scene. I think the actor in question did wonderful work and appears as endearing in this commercial as he is in person. It is easy to criticize and people often do even if they are not in possession of the facts. I feel very protective of this person. He comes from a small town and has been through this very situation. As have I. We are both able to laugh at ourselves. And we both like to eat at earls even more than we did before.

This ad is not insulting. The guy that is coming out can be replaced with the woman saying she is pregnant, the couple saying they are getting married, and the kid saying he crashed the family car. The concept of the ad is not about coming out, it's about the food. You have to remember that just because gays are portrayed in advertising, it doesn't mean it is offensive.

The ad did not seem offensive, nor was it fascinating. I guess the idea is that the food is really good, so the guests were distracted. Though it did seem that they were not necessarily interested in the young man's announcement. Maybe this is because he was stating the obvious, or maybe his guests wanted to avoid the topic of his sexuality. The commercial was too vague for me to really get anything from it. Maybe the point of the ad is to talk about the food without making a stance either way about homosexuality. I've definitely seen more interesting, humorous commercials than this one.