Here’s to J. Crew for (gently) pushing the social envelope, one ad campaign at a time. The preppy retailer’s a-traditional, LGBT-friendly take on family values began with last month’s pink-toenail-painting ad in an online newsletter; now, a shot of gay designer Somsack Sikhounmuong and his boyfriend dressed in J. Crew casual wear features among the pages of this month’s spring catalog.
The “Men’s Shop” section of the May catalog includes the photo of Sikhounmuong, a designer and model, together with his boyfriend Micah and the caption “Happy Together;” and simple though it may seem, gay advocates have praised the subtle advertisement as a strong message.
Cathy Renna of LGBT-oriented Renna Communications, for example, told ABC News that “nothing is unintentional in this kind of marketing,” and extended a “bravo” to J. Crew.
Meanwhile, Witeck Combs CEO Bob Witeck, whose marketing firm specializes in LGBT clients, said with the regard to the J. Crew ads that he is “loving it,” and that the clothing company’s approach “suggests they are updating and speaking to a more youthful and more self-aware audience that wants to see the truth and complexity and authenticity about every identity.”
In addition to the gay designer and his partner, the May 2011 catalog depicts the diversity of the J. Crew staff with photos of the company’s in-house stylist and his young son, bearded brothers, a designer and his dog and the photographer’s own African-American husband and Asian daughter, all under the headline “Family Matters.”
Will the latest J. Crew ad campaign rile social conservatives as much as last month’s newsletter featuring creative director Jenna Lyons painting her son’s toenails pink? We’ll brace ourselves for the media onslaught – and hope in the meantime that such controversy will soon be a thing of the past.
