Awareness & acceptance: The best Pride ads that India has seen

June is marked as the Pride Month the world over by members of the queer community. This is also the time when several brands go rainbow-hued to show their solidarity towards what are also known as sexual minorities, or more commonly the LGBTQ+ community. 

Some Indian brands have gone on for several years now with sustained campaigns to show solidarity to the community and to enhance the spirit of inclusivity. Few of them have raised eyebrows and controversies, but others have managed to create a lasting impact and ask the right questions. Let’s take a look at some from the latter lot.

BOMBAY TIMES OUT AND PROUD 

Right after the Supreme Court verdict that decriminalised homosexuality, Bombay Times (a Times Group subsidiary) rolled out the Out and Proud campaign in 2018. Over the years, through various short videos, the campaign has tackled several issues that the queer community of India faces. In fact, last year, their campaign revolved around biases in the workplace that deny a level playing field to several people. For the 2023 campaign, they had collaborated with FCB India. 

COLORBAR ALL SHADES OF YOU 

Colorbar Cosmetics (agency - SW Network) has been running the campaign titled ‘All Colours of You’ for the past couple of years. They tied up with influencers from the community to address taboos like men wearing makeup and self-expression through colourful (even loud!) makeup. This year, too, the campaign included some social media as well as on-ground events with Sushant Divgikar aka Rani Kohenoor being the headliner. 

https://www.instagram.com/lovecolorbar/reel/C8cV8gTSlUO/ 

Durex #TheBirdsandBeesTalk

A flagship initiative of the condom brand, the campaign aims to help with the non-existent sex education drive in the country, thereby enabling the adolescents to make empowered decisions. Every year, during the Pride Month, they partner with several influential voices from the LGBTQ community to raise awareness about issues pertaining to puberty that they had to go through. This year, a prominent voice heard in the campaign was that of activist Laxmi Narayan Tripathi. 

Besides these, there are many stand-alone ad films that have left an impression. Of course, the most iconic one among them is the Vicks commercial featuring transgender activist Gauri Sawant. It also told the dramatised version of her real story of adopting a baby girl. 

The first ad from India that featured a lesbian couple went viral way back in 2015. Titled ‘The Visit’, the ad film for Myntra’s Anouk brand showcased the anxiety of a same-sex couple when introducing their partner to their family. It also hinted at the couple coming out to the parents along with the announcement of them being together. It had created quite a stir as the couple was shown indulging in physical intimacy. Two years before this, Fastrack had tried to push the envelope where two girls were shown to literally walk out of the closet, but it was a left open to interpretation.

On Valentine’s Day 2017, Close Up released an advert with three couples in prohibited relationships speaking about their journeys. One of the three couples were homosexual men. This #FreeToLove campaign got appreciation from the much underrepresented community. Unfortunately, whether it is in films, TV or advertisements, most of the representation of gay men have been regressive, mostly used as  a comic relief.

Last year, Starbucks had a lovely tale of coming to terms with the new identity of a transwoman. The ad titled #ItStartsWithYourName, also had a transperson essaying the central character. The protagonist who has changed their name from Arpit to Aprita is duly accepted by their parents by the end of the ad, when a server calls out, “Three cold coffees for Arpita’. 

Reflective of the Indian psyche on this subject, the advertisements have been much kinder to the transgender community. Perhaps, because our society still largely believes that sexual orientation is a choice.