Today GLAAD announced the nominees for the 2012 GLAAD Amplifier Awards presented by The Omnicom Group. Among the nominees: J.C. Penney for its Father's Day ad featuring two gay dads with their children; Johnson & Johnson's anti-bullying campaign "Care with Pride"; a cheeky ad from General Motors for the Chevy Volt; Lexus for its celebration of the 45th Anniversary of The Advocate; Amtrak's "Ride with Pride" campaign; American Apparel for its LGBT Pride campaign featuring transgender model Isis King; and the You Can Play Project for its partnership with professional hockey players to help put an end to homophobia in sports.
To see this year's nominees, please visit glaad.org/amplifierawards/nominees. Advertising Age.com covered news of the nominees this morning, noting that this has been a big year for LGBT images in advertising.
"The advertising and marketing industries are catching up with the rest of the media by including more images of LGBT people in mainstream ads that target broad audiences," said GLAAD President Herndon Graddick. "Americans expect to see their worlds reflected in advertising, and today that includes LGBT people and families. This year's nominated campaigns are not only smart business decisions, but set the bar high for future images of our community in advertising and marketing."
The GLAAD Amplifier Awards elevate and promote individuals and projects in advertising and public relations industries for groundbreaking representations of the LGBT community. Nominees were selected by a jury comprised of staff members from Omnicom Group, Deutsch, Digitas Health, Ketchum, Omnicom Media Group, Publicis Kaplan Thaler, TBWA.
The GLAAD Amplifier Awards will be held in New York on October 2, 2012 at XL Nightclub, 512 West 42nd Street in New York City. Special guests and presenters to be announced. To purchase tickets for the event, please visit glaad.org/amplifierawards. The event will be an official event of Advertising Week.
Advertising - The Hot Spot (Mainstream Market)
"Care with Pride" (Johnson & Johnson)
"First Pals" (J.C. Penney)
"Make a Difference. Save a Life." (Desert AIDS Project)
"Never Hide" (Ray-Ban)
"Testing Makes Us STRONGER" (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention)
Advertising - The Hot Spot (LGBT Market)
"Lexus Celebrates The Advocate's 45th Anniversary" (Lexus)
"Mom, Dad, I'm Electric." (General Motors)
"Orbitz Price Assurance" (Orbitz)
"Outrageous Through the Ages" (Absolut Vodka/RuPaul's Drag Race)
"Red Ribbon Runway" (Gilead Sciences/RuPaul's Drag Race)
"Ride with Pride" (Amtrak)
Digital - Out and Interactive
"Advocate Money Minute Presented by Wells Fargo" (Wells Fargo)
"Be You, With Us" (Marriott)
"Equality Is _____" (Allstate Insurance Co.)
Oreo Pride Cookie (Kraft Foods)
"SAGECAP" (Services & Advocacy for GLBT Elders)
Public Relations - Out and Proud
"The Faceoff" (You Can Play Project)
"Land of Dreams" (Brand USA)
LGBT Pride 2012 (American Apparel)
"Project Honesty" (KY Brand)
"Weigh It Forward" (Philadelphia Gay News)
To see this year's nominees, please visit glaad.org/amplifierawards/nominees.