Hilton Advertises to G Part of LGBT Market

Hilton Hotels last week announced a new ad campaign targeting “the GLBT community.” The ads, to be run in major GLBT publications, have the tag line, “Come as you are . . . fabulous.”

Hmm. Last I checked, “fabulous” was a word most often used to describe the gay male community. (Not that lesbians, bisexual, or transgender people can’t be fabulous—but we don’t usually use the adjective in quite the same way.)

It seems a step in the right direction that Hilton is advertising to some part of the LGBT community. Let’s hope they don’t forget, however, that L, G, B, and T are another example of e pluribus unum, and that each of the many has its own character, despite our common cause.

Yes, the ongoing inequality of pay between the genders means gay male couples have higher average incomes than lesbian ones, and are thus more attractive to advertisers. Still, the lesbian market is not insignificant, as high-end jeweler Cartier knows. They ran an ad in Vanity Fair featuring Melissa Etheridge and Tammy Lynn Michaels sharing a romantic moment.

On a less costly note, I’m surprised no “feminine product” companies have targeted the lesbian market. Heaven knows, lesbian couples buy twice as much as any straight ones. (I can see it now: “Fempax Tampons. Protects your softball whites better than any other brand.”)

(Thanks to the Gay & Lesbian Leadership SmartBrief for the heads-up.)