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.
Disney Pledges $15 million In L.A. Fire Aid As More Celebs Learn They’ve Lost Their Homes
The Pacific Palisades wildfires torched the home of "This Is Us" star Milo Ventimiglia, perhaps most poignantly destroying the father-to-be's newly installed crib.
CBS cameras caught the actor walking through his charred house for the first time, standing in what was once his kitchen and looking at a neighborhood in ruin. "Your heart just breaks."
He and his pregnant wife, Jarah Mariano, evacuated Tuesday with their dog and they watched on security cameras as the flames ripped through the house, destroying everything, including a new crib.
"There's a kind of shock moment where you're going, 'Oh, this is real. This is happening.' What good is it to continue watching?' And then at a certain point we just turned it off, like 'What good is it to continue watching?'"
Firefighters sought to make gains Friday during a respite in the heavy winds that fanned the flames as numerous groups pledged aid to help victims and rebuild, including a $15 million donation pledge from the Walt Disney Co.
More stars learn their homes are gone
While seeing the remains of his home, Ventimiglia was struck by a connection to his "This Is Us" character, Jack Pearson, who died after inhaling smoke in a house fire. "It's not lost on me life imitating art."
Mandy Moore, who played Ventimiglia's wife on "This Is Us," nearly lost her home in the Eaton fire, which scorched large areas of the Altadena neighborhood. She said Thursday that part of her house is standing but is unlivable, and her husband lost his music studio and all his instruments.
Mel Gibson's home is "completely gone," his publicist Alan Nierob confirmed Friday. The Oscar winner revealed the loss of his home earlier Friday while appearing on Joe Rogan's... Read More