Labels are meant for bottles, not people.
That’s the message Bud Light is sending in their latest ad, titled “Labels,” starring Amy Schumer and Seth Rogen. The spot is meant to support everyone’s right to be whoever it is they are and wherever it is they fall on the gender identity spectrum.
“Beer should have labels, not people,” Rogen says. “We don’t care, we’ll sell you beer.”
“We’ll sell you beer any day of the week,” Schumer adds.
Though companies and brands now see the queer community as fertile ground for new customers, gender identity ― especially when involving those who do not identify at either end of the gender spectrum ― is not something often addressed in mainstream advertising campaigns. But perhaps that will soon change as more and more people ― and institutions ― begin to interrogate gender identity ― often in very public arenas and in very visible ways.
Last summer, Miley Cyrus came out as pansexual and other celebrities, including Sting’s child Eliot Sumner, have revealed they do not identify as either gender. Earlier this year the gender-neutral, singular version of “they” was chosen as “word of the year” by The American Dialect Society. In June, New York City proclaimed that all single occupancy restrooms in public venues must be gender neutral. These kinds of public declarations and moves, including something as seemingly unimportant as Bud Light including “gender identities” in a new ad, have helped to jumpstart conversations about gender and desire and are changing the ways we think and live as a culture.
This ad is the latest in the new “Bud Light Party” campaign, which has also included a pro-marriage equality commercial. Other ads can be seen here. For more queer-friendly companies, see the slideshow below.
Before You Go
