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Story Updated : 8/1/2009 9:04:32 AM

Gay Camaro Ad Not "Vetted" by GM



A viral video featuring men in their underwear washing a Camaro -- which was yanked by General Motors Wednesday morning -- was not vetted through all departments of the company, Travis Parman, who handles LGBT media relations for GM, told Advocate.com Wednesday.

The video was filmed to promote "Gay Days at the Movies," a GM-coordinated event in Los Angeles for the new Transformers film, and was created by General Motors' LGBT outreach group.

In the video, two men wearing Bumblebee underwear with C-A-M-A-R-O spelled out on the back are seen washing a Camaro.

"Our LGBT outreach group did just some grassroots, viral, simple videos to promote the event itself," Parman said. But the video didn't go through an additional approval process before hitting the Web.

Most videos that make it to the Web without being approved by corporate might simply be branded unauthorized and yanked. But GM issued a statement saying this "was not the way we wanted to represent" the Camaro brand, adding that it was not done "in good taste" before ordering that the videos be removed.

"Our LGBT group who normally handles this thing is the group who did it, so we didn't want to shy away from that responsibility," Parman said. "But it had not been vetted through every single group."

Parman said had the video been vetted through every department at GM, "it probably never would have been posted."

GM is a longtime advertiser in gay media and has previously advertised in The Advocate .

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Reader Comments
  • Name: David Cowbell
    Date posted: 7/18/2009 12:42:00 AM
    Hometown: Raymonton, Washington

    Comment:

    I am butter in your hands BuickBuddy. Cum by and see me. We can talk about low end torque and big journals.

  • Name: BuickBuddy
    Date posted: 7/17/2009 6:37:00 PM
    Hometown: Hard Rock, CT

    Comment:

    David, I felt you transmitting something to me in your message. Do you drive a classic Buick too? I think we should hook up. Go to V8Buick and check me out.

  • Name: David Cowbell
    Date posted: 7/17/2009 4:04:00 PM
    Hometown: Raymonton, Washington

    Comment:

    I am as gay as they come, but this add was considered very tame and not to gay by Washington State gay standards.

  • Name: BuickBuddy
    Date posted: 7/17/2009 3:59:00 PM
    Hometown: Hard Rock, CT

    Comment:

    That is a shame. I am a classic Buick guy, but this ad gave me courage to came out of the closet. Hopefully, Buick will respond with a gay-friendly ad.

  • Name: Ted
    Date posted: 7/12/2009 10:01:00 AM
    Hometown: Kentucky

    Comment:

    I saw the video before it was yanked. It was probably yanked for being stupid and over the top. I really don't get what all the fuss was about. Just my opinion.

  • Name: Alan Miller
    Date posted: 7/11/2009 10:42:00 AM
    Hometown: Miami

    Comment:

    As a gay man I feel we have been so legal and proper to not steps on gay or color issues, we have lost reasoning or ability to laught, and judge what is in good taste and bad. We need to lighten up and accept each other with the govenernment or attorneys jumping in. No person, color or group doesn't fail to poke fun at each other, we must decide what crosses the lines. What was wrong with the Taco Bell commerical with the little dog??. It got pulled. Yet in El Paso 2 gays got police called for kissing, which is worse.

  • Name: Lila Mckann
    Date posted: 7/10/2009 6:23:00 PM
    Hometown: Los Angeles

    Comment:

    This is really a non-story. This was NOT an ad, but a campy video shot with a digital camera in association with a GM-sanctioned promotional tie-in with the movie Transformers. I read somewhere that over 6,000 people viewed the video and that's a HELLUVA lot more gay guys that would have given this car a second glance otherwise. I am sure that if we did a search of ALL of GM's commercials for both their current lineup and the now defunct brands, we'd find a number of questionable advertising choices made. The truth is, GM is supportive of the LGBT community and I think that's really very commendable, really, even though they decided this was over the line for them. But I do think they should be thankful that SOOO many people checked out the Camaro that wouldn't have otherwise!

  • Name: Derek
    Date posted: 7/10/2009 6:05:00 PM
    Hometown: Danvers MA

    Comment:

    I just watched the commercial. Wolfie from KY thanks for the link. Im a gay male...I see the problem with this add. It does not advertise anything. There is some incredibly gay dialogue and thats about it. The production value is dog shit. I would not want that posing as a GM sanctioned add if I were running GM. Lets grow up a little here guys. With everything going on right now is this really where our efforts should be concentrated. If anything that commercial plays right into every stereo type we bitch about people bringing up. We cannot have it both ways. Either we are the lisping sex crazed deviants we have been called with the "its dirty" double entendre or we are the mainstream responsible gay community members we wish to be portrayed as. Why dont you take your fake outrage and use it somewhere it is needed. God damn.....I want to know....are we really a group of cry babies?

  • Name: Ken Berg
    Date posted: 7/10/2009 4:27:00 PM
    Hometown: Albuquerque

    Comment:

    So let's get this straight: GM has an LGBT Outreach Group that produced the video and approved it, but the GM brass want to keep it a secret. And the Advocate is more than happy to take GM's money despite this hypocrisy. Shameful.

  • Name: NN
    Date posted: 7/10/2009 4:19:00 PM
    Hometown: NE of town

    Comment:

    It is, after all, a car designed for folks with issues of self-perception. Other than that it's difficult to see a reason why it would exist at all. Most of the services it provides to the buyer are psychological - it's not particularly good at taking you or your stuff from A to B. I'm straight, male, and don't go for car ads with foxy chicks draped over hot metal either, but until they pull those, they may as well have these. At least there are people in them. It really makes little business difference; GM is in wind-down mode and the main goal is to allow them to disappear with as little economic repercussion as possible. But this was worth it just to see the reactions from straight dudes (or conflicted whatevers) who just can't stand that a box on wheels no longer represents their fertile virility.

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