cleaning up
by
Douglas Messerli
Unknown
filmmaker Past Mistakes / 2014 [20 seconds] [commercial advertisement]
The
gay couple in the Tide add of 2014 found that their old laundry soap did not
get out their stains. One of this male couple, obviously the one does the
shopping, serves as the Tide spokesman, the other asking only at the end when his
companion announces that now Tide cleans it all with just one washing, “Like
your cargo shorts?”
The
nasty spokesman comes back, “Like your ex?”
This somewhat catty, but nonetheless
charming advertisement was shown only in Canada despite the fact that Tide’s
producer, Proctor & Gamble, has encouraged gay marriage, and “fostered a
culture of inclusion and respect…including the right to marry whomever they
choose.”
Despite some heavy pressure to bring this
add to the US, Proctor & Gamble didn’t feel the US market was ready, and the
ad never showed up in the States, another failure of a major company to act
instead of simply talk out of the side of their mouths. Obviously Tide couldn’t
clean up its act and rectify their “past mistakes.”
It appears that even back in 2014 Procter
& Gamble perceived Canadian audiences to be more intelligent and
sophisticated that those of the US.
Los
Angeles, February 7, 2026
Reprinted
from My Queer Cinema blog (February 2026).
No comments:
Post a Comment