Lisa Derrick at the La Figa blog is reporting that BuzzFree Prom, which is based in Dallas (thereby explaining the Dallas County jail uniform), has pulled the above ad in response to an outcry from LGBT activists who allege that it is homophobic. I put a call in to Liza Orchard of BuzzFree Prom this morning to try to confirm that they have removed the ad from their “BuzzFree Prom Kits,” but I haven’t heard anything back. Orchard reportedly told Derrick that she ran the ad by her gay friends before publishing it and that they didn’t find it offensive. Which leads Derrick to conclude that, “Maybe it’s a Texas thing.”
With people like Gov. Rick Perry constantly running their mouths, I suppose the Texas-bashing is to be expected, but we’d also like to point out to Derrick that Sheriff Lupe Valdez, who runs the Dallas County Jail, is openly gay.
UPDATE: Dallas County Sheriff’s Department spokeswoman Kimberly Leach says she’ll check whether permission was granted to use this uniform in the ad. But Leach speculated that someone just took something that looked like a jail jumper and Photoshopped “Dallas County” on the front. “We actually still use the two piece black and white striped inmate wear,” Leach says.
UPDATE NO. 2: See Orchard’s comment below.
You can still purchase the posters at the Web site…
https://www.buzzfreestore.com/20sapo.html
Upon receiving the first comment stating the concern that this poster was considered offensive, we immediately removed it from our website and product line. We apologize if this poster offended anyone, for certainly that was not the intent; BuzzFree Prom strives to direct teens’ attention to messaging which encourages them NOT to drink or use other drugs on prom night or any other night. BuzzFree is solely responsible for its content.
I applaud Ms. Derrick’s passion and concern for the GLBT community. Her concerns, as well as all others are duly noted and commended.
The poster has been removed from the website, and the store. This poster will not be sold or distributed.
Again, we apologize.
Thanks for the apology, Liza. But drop the “if” statements and acknowledge that some of your staff are completely boneheaded if they thought this ad wasn’t meant to degrade gays.
Although i couldn’t see the ad, the poster of the tuxedo and the prison uniform does make a strong case for sobriety.
Without words, you get the relationship and how easy it would be to go from one extreme to the other — which is the whole point — and which therefore makes it a successful campaign.
Actually, you don’t really even have to mention “Queen” at all and it still works. But i do appreciate BuzzFree’s sensitivity to LBGT folks.
Thanks for working to keep drunk teen drivers off the road. Keep up the good work.
OK, really…….we all need to lighten up. I’m a gay man, and I wasn’t offended in the least. I found the ad to be meaningful. The impact could save a life. Of course, I’m not sure if my opinion is allowed, since anyone who dare exercise free speech be branded “self-loathing”. The PC police, including the gay pc police, are taking the fun out of everything.
“We apologize if anyone was offended” is not an apology. This puts the blame on the people offended who were just being so gosh darn unreasonable that they chose to be offended.
“We apologize for being offensive” or even “we apologize” are proper apologies.
I agree with qwerty. In fact, it would have been better to go with the actual uniform, which as noted previously is a black-and-white-striped two-piece. If you felt some text was necessary you could say, “Go from solids to stripes in 3 shots or less”. Feel free to use that.
Running something by a few gay people will not ensure that it is not offensive. No “gay person” or “black person” or “disabled person,” etc. speaks for a writ large minority. The litmus test for the offensiveness for a piece of media must involve more critical thinking.
While this particular item is not flagrantly offensive, the discourse that has arisen from it speaks to a lack of thoughtful commentary in response to an accusation of “offensiveness.”
The gays have completely lost their collective sense of humor. I’m the biggest gay around and I think it’s hilarious. Would it have been OK if it had come out of Will or Jack’s mouth? Please – prison humor and the threat of prison sex is still a part of our national humor. Lighten up folks!
I don’t think it’s homophobic per se so much as badly written copy. I would’ve gone with a simpler, “Three drinks away from a night to forget” just for the naughty ambiguity of it – and it’s younger-kid-safe.
I personally know Liza Orchard and I can say unequivocally that she is a straight ally to our community. This copy was a play off of King and Queen of Prom….not queens as in our community. Liza should be applauded for her swift action, her heart-felt apology and the removal of the poster. She listened to us, got it, and took positive action. Why do we as a community continue to beat up on someone that has done the right thing in light of new facts?
I find this to be absolutely ridiculous. On any given day, all of my gay friends will make catty, quirky comments similar to the one displayed in this ad. Often, the humor gays use among ourselves is ten times more offensive, yet we use it on ourselves and laugh at it frequently.
So, it’s okay for my friends and me to call ourselves queens, but it’s not okay for anyone else? To some degree, I agree. But, in the end, this ad made me laugh.
Call me a queen and I always reply with “thanks, but my mom’s not dead yet. I’m still a princess.”
When did we all become such whiney babies?
Also – I agree with Dawn. Liza did the right thing by making a public apology and taking action, so everyone needs to calm down already.
P.S. As a marketing professional, I’d advise keeping the ad since it’s already received a great deal of buzz (negative or otherwise), and just change the tag line. This will keep the momentum going and satisfy all the bitchy queens out there at the same time. I like the “solids to stripes” quip – good one, Randy.