Dating Commentary – THAT Interracial Gay Couple Expedia Advert

Scrolling down my Twitter feed I noticed the photo above.

My initial reaction?

How awesome to see a romantic prize being illustrated by a same-sex couple.  As someone who spends her life on Shutterstock trying to source cute dating shots, it’s very rare to see relaxed, ‘normal’ relationship photos of same sex couples.  And even rarer to see companies using them in ad campaigns.

And then I realised 2 disappointing things.

1) The reactions on Twitter

Holy shit, there are some bigoted people in this world!

Whilst my initial response had been to smile and think how refreshing it was, there were some awful comments – both related to homosexuality, and also to interracial relationships. (I’m not going to republish them, but they are easy enough to find on Twitter)  As someone with a very liberal upbringing, who genuinely couldn’t tell you how many gay people, or people of different races, she knows, I was genuinely shocked that people will so confidently put such vile, bigoted opinions into the public sphere.  It’s one thing to be bigoted, racist and homophobic behind closed doors – these are the kinds of problems I thought we still faced in 2015.  But it’s quite another to be so confident in your hatred, that you will put your face and name to such outdated, unacceptable views, for all the world to read and judge.

2) That the advert was to encourage gay people to go to Britain

Yes, that’s all good … but wouldn’t it be great if the gay couple ad, was for a promotion to encourage all couples to come to England for a romantic holiday.  Gay or straight!  For decades photos of straight couples have been used to sell romantic products and services, even when these adverts are also marketed at gay couples.  So why shouldn’t the reverse apply in 2015.  When I saw that photo, I thought ‘cute, attractive couple enjoying a trip to London’.  That should be the product being sold, not a holiday especially for gay couples.

So well done Expedia, it’s a great photo campaign, and a really refreshing sight.  But let’s take it one step further next time, and use same-sex couples in ads as a representative of ALL couples, gay or straight, for products marketed at ALL couples 🙂

Miss Twenty-Nine xxx