- Over the years, many brands have changed their logos to VIBGYOR on social media to celebrate pride month.
- However, only a few have launched the most vibrant, diverse and inclusive campaigns that represent LGBTQIA+ community in a positive light and embrace them in full colours.
- Today, we look back at some of these iconic advertisements that initiated an early conversation in our country and tried to normalise all colours of love.
It is pride month and it is delightful to see Indian brands changing their logos on social media in support of LGBTQIA+ communities. It shows that many brands have started talking about pride and awareness of LGBTQIA+ rights is growing. The list of pride campaigns also grows longer every year.
However, to be able to normalise all colours of love in India, the conversation has to move beyond tokenism and monetisation opportunity. Brands still don’t include LGBTQIA+ couples in their everyday, functional ads. Almost every advertisement on Valentine’s Day feature a cis-hetreosexual couple in a very mushy set-up and just the pride month is reserved for acknowledging queer folks’ existence in India. We haven’t seen a single campaign in India that target asexual people.
Since many Indian brands have failed to give the community a voice through their campaigns, to make the queer community a part of their daily life conversation and step out of their comfort zones, we decided to look back at some of the iconic advertisements that were created by brands who dared to speak up and break some taboos.
Amul’s take on coming out of the closet in 2009
Bhima Jewellers: A campaign where inclusion seamlessly became a part of the narrative Levi’s Proud to be more: A campaign that moved beyond labels and reminded us that life is much more than one’s sexuality Titan Raga’s Proud to be me: A campaign that spoke about nurturing your relationship with your own self and embracing who you really are UNAIDS’ The Mirror: A campaign that aims to break down gender diversity taboos among children and raise awareness about their rights Fastrack Closet: One of the very first brands in India to show a lesbian couple; it encouraged the youth to come out of their closet of comfort and speak up, metaphorically Humsafar Trust: Celebration of Freedom after the SC repealed article 377 Tinder Pride From Home: India’s first pride anthem OkCupid: A campaign that celebrates queer voices while calling out the similarities and struggles of finding love Anouk’s The Visit: Probably one of the first ads in India that attempted to normalise different sexual preferences, without looking at them through a lens of judgement or for the sake of tokenism Vicks’ Touch of Care: Normalised trans motherhood in India Brooke Bond Label’s 6 Pack Band: A series of songs that celebrated the marginalised Hijra community and concentrated on what they rejoice about being queer Times Out and Proud: A campaign that aimed to empower the queer community to live a dignified life with acceptance and pride 