Date: Fri, 30 Apr 1999 15:12:49 -0700 From: GLAAD Subject: Anheuser-Busch Needs Your Support! Anheuser-Busch Needs Your Support! On Thursday, April 22, Anheuser-Busch placed an advertisement in a local St. Louis lesbian and gay publication, EXP Magazine. The Bud Light (an Anheuser brand) ad depicts two men holding hands with the taglines, "Be Yourself and Make It a Bud Light" and "Proud Sponsor of the St. Louis Pridefest '99." What made the ad unique was that it was the beer manufacturers first advertisement to include same-sex physical contact. While ad revenues from "mainstream" corporations in lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (lgbt) publications have significantly increased in the past few years, these ads usually shy away from depicting lesbian and gay couples in any intimate embrace. Popular "mainstream" newspapers and magazines almost always include heterosexual couples in some form of embrace, while similar ads in lgbt publications, sometimes for the very same products, feature two same-gender individuals minus the same affection. Readers are often asked to assume these couples are lesbian, gay or bisexual simply by the placement of the ad in a lgbt publication. An article in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch on Wednesday, April 21 detailed the launch of the Bud ads, which the company plans to use in other markets. following the article, Bud was deluged by many negative phone calls and e-mails blasting the company for their ad. The following e-mail was just distributed by Jerry Falwell regarding the iss= ue: > > Date: 99-04-30 17:00:16 EDT > > From: webmaster@libertyalliance.org > > Sender: fclist-owner@libertyalliance.org > > To: fclist@libertyalliance.org > > > > DATE: APRIL 30, 1999 > > FROM: JERRY FALWELL > > > > ANHEUSER BUSCH UPDATE: Since my communique yesterday, the Anheuser > > Busch Company has now instituted a toll-free number for people to > > call if they disapprove of a new Bud Light commercial featuring two > > homosexual men. The new toll-free number to call is: 1-888-227- > > 8783. One of my staff members called Anheuser Busch yesterday and > > told them that thousands of calls would be coming from concerned > > Americans and it appears the company quickly saw that they need an > > automated number to receive the volume of calls that have already > > come in. I just called the number before writing this special > > update and it took me three tries to get through, meaning that our > > fellow conservatives are on the ball! Let=EDs keep the heat on > > Anheuser Busch so that they understand that pro-family Americans are > > terribly concerned about homosexual images coming into our homes > > through reckless advertising campaigns. Call today and have your > > friends and family call as well! Pastors, this Sunday please > > encourage your congregations to call. It is important that we all > > take action since the gay-rights community is actively calling the > > pro-gay ad number. The number is 1-888-227-8783. >> > > Please contact Bud and let them know that their ad represents parity in advertising. NOTE: Do Not Call 1-888-227-8783. It registers you as opposing the ad. Instead, Call Their Feedback Phone: 1-877-233-7725 Online Feedback Form: http://Budweiser.com/quality/index.html To view the St. Louis Post-Dispatch story: http://www.postnet.com/862566b400717e71/effcf07c976880b98625671b00739585/9bf= bb78 f9ae09a5f8625675a003d241f?OpenDocument To view the advertisement: http://www.glaad.org/glaad/support/images/budlite.gif -end- ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) glaad@glaad.org TO REPORT DEFAMATION IN THE MEDIA - Call GLAAD's Alertline at 1.800.GAY.MEDIA or go to the GLAAD Web Site at www.glaad.org and report through our Alertline Online. TO JOIN GLAAD AND RECEIVE GLAAD's QUARTERLY IMAGES MAGAZINE, call 1.800.GAY.MEDIA or join on the Web today at www.glaad.org/glaad/join/join-about.html TO SUBSCRIBE TO GLAAD-Net, GLAAD's electronic mailing list, send e-mail to majordomo@vector.casti.com with the message "Subscribe GLAAD-Net" (without the quotation marks). Make sure that you turn off all signatures and extraneous text. TO UNSUBSCRIBE, send e-mail to majordomo@vector.casti.com with the message "Unsubscribe GLAAD-Net" (without the quotation marks). Make sure that you turn off all signatures and extraneous text. The Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) is a national organization that promotes fair, accurate and inclusive representation of individuals and events in the media as a means of combating homophobia and challenging discrimination based on sexual orientation or identity. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~=