Sarah Toce
At least four LGBTQ-inclusive ads from M&M’s, Michelob ULTRA, Logitech, and Paramount+ set to air during the Super Bowl
GLAAD, the world’s largest lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ) media advocacy organization, today celebrated the LGBTQ-inclusive ads set to air during Super Bowl LV. At least four LGBTQ-inclusive ads from M&M’s, Michelob ULTRA, Logitech, and Paramount+ will air during the broadcast on CBS on Sunday, February 7. GLAAD will continue to track additional LGBTQ-inclusive ads that appear before and during the Super Bowl.
“During one of biggest nights in sports and media, global brands like M&M’s, Michelob ULTRA, Logitech, and Paramount are raising the bar for inclusion by featuring LGBTQ icons after last year’s record number of inclusive ads,” said GLAAD President & CEO Sarah Kate Ellis. “More brands should now step up year round, as including LGBTQ people in ads is good for business and good for the world. GLAAD is working to grow the quality and the quantity of LGBTQ people in advertising, as it can have a profound impact on LGBTQ visibility and acceptance, especially during cultural events like the Super Bowl.”
At least four LGBTQ inclusive ads are set to air during Sunday’s broadcast. GLAAD will update this list with additional ads on GLAAD.org:
- Logitech: Lil Nas X, out Grammy Award-winning rapper, singer, and songwriter
- M&M’s: Dan Levy, out Emmy-Award winning showrunner, writer, director, producer, and actor
- Michelob ULTRA: Billie Jean King, out former professional tennis star
- Paramount+: RuPaul, out drag queen and television personality
Last year, at least eleven LGBTQ-inclusive ads from Amazon Alexa, Budweiser, Doritos, HGTV, Microsoft, Olay, Pop Tarts, Sabra, Tide, TurboTax, and Under Armour aired during Super Bowl LIV. Out Offensive Assistant Coach of the San Francisco 49ers, Katie Sowers, also took the field as the first woman and openly gay coach in Super Bowl history.
Leading up to and during Super Bowl LV, GLAAD is also supporting Hate is Wrong, a nonprofit organization founded by out former NFL player Esera Tuaolo that seeks to foster diversity in sports and anti-bullying among youth. The organization will host its second annual Super Bowl Inclusion Panel on February 5 moderated by Outsports founder Cyd Ziegler and featuring panelists including Billy Bean (MLB Vice President and Ambassador for Inclusion), Andrea Jenkins (the first trans woman elected to the Minneapolis City Council), Carley Knox (VP of the WNBA’s Minnesota Lynx), and more. Hate is Wrong then hosts its fourth annual Super Bowl Inclusion Party on February 6. Both events are free to the public. For more information, visit https://hateiswrong.org/inclusion-panel/.
The GLAAD Media Institute works with brands on inclusion of LGBTQ people and families across advertising. The Institute also advocates for improving the quantity and quality of inclusive ads and tracks LGBTQ inclusion in ads during major cultural moments like the Super Bowl.
In May 2020, GLAAD released the findings of the “LGBTQ Inclusion in Advertising and Media” study, conducted in partnership with Procter & Gamble (P&G), the world’s largest advertiser. GLAAD and P&G’s study details how non-LGBTQ Americans respond to TV, films, and ads featuring LGBTQ representation. Results demonstrate high comfortability around viewing LGBTQ images in the media, favorability towards brands with LGBTQ-inclusive advertising, and that inclusive media images lead to greater acceptance and understanding. Read the full study here.
Prior to 2020’s record number of LGBTQ-inclusive ads, LGBTQ people were largely invisible during the Super Bowl.
In 2007, Snickers pulled an ad after it aired during the Super Bowl and depicted two men who accidentally kiss, and then become disgusted. An alternative version of the ad had the men begin to beat each other.
In 2014, Coca-Cola was celebrated for an ad featuring a diverse collection of American families, including a family with two dads. In 2018, Coca-Cola used gender neutral pronouns in a spot. Esteemed journalist and author Samantha Allen noted at the time: “Given the severe underrepresentation—indeed, the near invisibility of non-binary people in the media, the importance of 100 million people hearing “them” used as a gender-neutral, third-person pronoun cannot be overstated.”
LGBTQ celebrities including RuPaul, Ellen DeGeneres and Neil Patrick Harris have also appeared in Super Bowl ads over the years. RuPaul appeared in a 2000 ad for WebEx video conferencing software, DeGeneres appeared in a Beats Music ad in 2014 and Harris appeared in an ad for Heineken Light in 2017, as well as a CBS teaser ad for the Super Bowl in 2013. In 2005, Carson Kressley co-starred with Cindy Crawford in an iconic Diet Pepsi ad.
Super Bowl LV airs at 6:30pm ET this Sunday, February 7 on CBS.
Watch the commercials below.
