American Airlines, Levi Strauss and Wells Fargo were among the honorees at the second annual Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) Media Awards in Advertising held on Wednesday (9/29) in New York City. The GLAAD competition singles out individuals and projects in the advertising and marketing industries for their fair, accurate and inclusive representations of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community.
Three execs from American Airlines–Betty Young, director of diverse segment marketing, George Carrancho, national sales and marketing manager, LGBT community, and Art Torno, VP of New York–were on hand to accept on behalf of the company GLAAD’s Corporate Responsibility Award in recognition of the airliner’s longstanding and public commitment to the LGBT sector.
Scoring the award from a field of nominees in the Outstanding TV Campaign category was Levi Strauss & Co. for its “Levi’s Gay History Month/Logo Leaders” initiative, which promoted programming and content relating to gay history on the Logo TV network and Logo online. A centerpiece promo noted that gay history is everyone’s history, including American history, music history, civil rights history.
Winning for Outstanding Interactive Campaign was Wells Fargo for its sponsorship of The Advocate Money Minute, offering financial advice and information to the gay community.
Outstanding Social Marketing Campaign honors went to SAGECAP for its “The Caregiver’s Caregiver” campaign.
Picking up GLAAD Awards for print campaigns were K-Y Brand for “America’s Top Couple” and Progressive Insurance for “Works in Progress.”
And advertising critic Bob Garfield–whose “AdReview” column in Advertising Age ran for 25 years–received the GLAAD Public Visibility Award for his work in Advertising Age critiquing homophobic images in advertising.”
“Tonight’s honorees, nominees and award recipients have set new industry standards which underline the value of gay and lesbian consumers,” said GLAAD President Jarrett Barrios, president of GLAAD. “More and more companies are moving toward ads that reflect truly reflect all people and learning that LGBT people should be accepted and respected, not only for their potential buying power, but for their contribution to the American cultural fabric.”
Barrios continued, “While LGBT representation on TV continues to grow, the advertising industry has not yet fully embraced our community. Tonight’s nominees and honorees have set new benchmarks in the industry and continue to lead the way in fair, accurate and inclusive LGBT representation in advertising.”
SAG Award-winning actor Bryan Batt, who portrayed ad executive Salvatore Romano on AMC’s hit series Mad Men, hosted the GLAAD Media Awards in Advertising ceremony.
Honored work–both winners and nominees–can be seen here.
Apple and Google Face UK Investigation Into Mobile Browser Dominance
Apple and Google aren't giving consumers a genuine choice of mobile web browsers, a British watchdog said Friday in a report that recommends they face an investigation under new U.K. digital rules taking effect next year.
The Competition and Markets Authority took aim at Apple, saying the iPhone maker's tactics hold back innovation by stopping rivals from giving users new features like faster webpage loading. Apple does this by restricting progressive web apps, which don't need to be downloaded from an app store and aren't subject to app store commissions, the report said.
"This technology is not able to fully take off on iOS devices," the watchdog said in a provisional report on its investigation into mobile browsers that it opened after an initial study concluded that Apple and Google effectively have a chokehold on "mobile ecosystems."
The CMA's report also found that Apple and Google manipulate the choices given to mobile phone users to make their own browsers "the clearest or easiest option."
And it said that the a revenue-sharing deal between the two U.S. Big Tech companies "significantly reduces their financial incentives" to compete in mobile browsers on Apple's iOS operating system for iPhones.
Both companies said they will "engage constructively" with the CMA.
Apple said it disagreed with the findings and said it was concerned that the recommendations would undermine user privacy and security.
Google said the openness of its Android mobile operating system "has helped to expand choice, reduce prices and democratize access to smartphones and apps" and that it's "committed to open platforms that empower consumers."
It's the latest move by regulators on both sides of the Atlantic to crack down on the... Read More