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.
Netflix Series “The Leopard” Spots Classic Italian Novel, Remakes It As A Sumptuous Period Drama
"The Leopard," a new Netflix series, takes the classic Italian novel by Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa and transforms it into a sumptuous period piece showing the struggles of the aristocracy in 19th-century Sicily, during tumultuous social upheavals as their way of life is crumbling around them.
Tom Shankland, who directs four of the eight episodes, had the courage to attempt his own version of what is one of the most popular films in Italian history. The 1963 movie "The Leopard," directed by Luchino Visconti, starring Burt Lancaster, Alain Delon and Claudia Cardinale, won the Palme d'Or in Cannes.
One Italian critic said that it would be the equivalent of a director in the United States taking "Gone with the Wind" and turning it into a series, but Shankland wasn't the least bit intimidated.
He said that he didn't think of anything other than his own passion for the project, which grew out of his love of the book. His father was a university professor of Italian literature in England, and as a child, he loved the book and traveling to Sicily with his family.
The book tells the story of Don Fabrizio Corbera, the Prince of Salina, a tall, handsome, wealthy aristocrat who owns palaces and land across Sicily.
His comfortable world is shaken with the invasion of Sicily in 1860 by Giuseppe Garibaldi, who was to overthrow the Bourbon king in Naples and bring about the Unification of Italy.
The prince's family leads an opulent life in their magnificent palaces with servants and peasants kowtowing to their every need. They spend their time at opulent banquets and lavish balls with their fellow aristocrats.
Shankland has made the series into a visual feast with tables heaped with food, elaborate gardens and sensuous costumes.... Read More