Vitabashing?
Glacéau,
maker of the Vitaminenergy drink, may think twice about
subtly insulting gay people in its next marketing
campaign
An Advocate.com exclusive posted May 28, 2008
Sometimes cheeky
can get you in trouble. Just ask beverage company
Glacéau, the maker of Vitaminenergy. a caffeine-laden,
vitamin-enhanced energy drink. The New York City-based
Glacéau is known for its smartass approach to
marketing itself, all the way down to its welcome phone
message: “Hi, Bubbeleh, what’s
doin’?” an outer-borough accent squawks.
But some LGBT
beverage drinkers weren’t laughing after Glacéau
started taking on competitor Red Bull. Glacéau
had a campaign in which vehicles were bedecked with
the slogan “Wings Are for Fairies,” apparently
poking fun at Red Bull’s logo while engaging in
what some saw as subtle gay-bashing.
When contacted,
Glacéau released the following statement: “The
slogan was a direct reference to a winged cartoon
character in a competitive campaign, We apologize if
our attempt at humor offended anyone in any way and we
plan to remove this slogan from all vehicles as soon as
possible.” Gulp!
Lisotta is a regular contributor to The
Advocate.
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