A couple of weeks ago, someone brought this Hyundai ad to our attention. Though it’s over a year old, we hadn’t seen it before, and frankly, it took us by surprise. Check it:
Why is that surprising? Because it features a lesbian plotline, despite the fact that Hyundai is one of only only four major automakers that isn’t LGBT-friendly. (The others are Suzuki, Porsche, and Hyundai’s sister, Kia.)
We wrote to Hyundai and asked the company to verify a few things:
1. Whether this was a real commercial or a student project;
2. Whether it ran in regular rotation; and,
3. If Hyundai had made its employment policies more LGBT-friendly since the last time we checked.
That was two weeks ago, and we still haven’t received a response, so for the time-being, we’ll assume that the answer to #3 is “no”. However, we’ve gotten reports from Canada that the ad is legit and that it did, in fact, run on Canadian TV for a while. So that’s…interesting.
More recently, AdWeek posted a rundown of “The 50 Gayest Ads Ever” (what’s that mean, anyway?). And there we found another LGBT-themed clip from Hyundai — this time from Sweden in 2006:
Maybe we haven’t met our caffeine quota for the day, but we can’t say that we’re exactly happy with this clip either. The first ad looked like porn for straight men; in this one, the gay guy’s a joke, a punch line. Compare those clips to two from the very-LGBT-friendly Subaru, and you’ll notice a significant difference in tone:
We’re not plot devices in the Subaru ads. We’re not jokes. The clips don’t talk about us, they speak to us. That’s a major difference.
But what do you think? Are we being too hard on Hyundai? Too humorless? Or should Hyundai’s well-shod corporate feet be held to the fire until the company becomes more LGBT-friendly? Feel free to weigh in via email, Twitter, or in the comments below.
Funny thing…I’m reviewing the Elantra for my blog and it’s been in the back of my mind whether to say something about HMA and their absence of LGBT policies. The truth is there’s a whole bunch of us that own them, put rainbow flag/HRC stickers on them…and may not be aware of this information. So…I wonder whether our view of Hyundai might change or not.
Another thing, at Twin Cities Pride, the local chapter of the HRC was loaned a Suzuki Equator as their vehicle for the parade. I asked if they were aware of American Suzuki’s policies and their response was along the lines of “hey, we’ll take it.” So, I’m wondering if things are changing at American Suzuki or something.
Thanks, Randy. Glad to know I’m not the only one who’s wary of Hyundai. It’s frustrating that they haven’t come around; their cars are well-built and gaining in popularity — both in the LGBT community and in the broader population — and I’d like to be able to support them whole-heartedly. Until they do, though, I think we ought to keep the heat on.
As for HRC and Suzuki, it sounds like HRC just wanted a free ride and didn’t care where it came from. That might not be so bad — after all, the local Suzuki dealer might treat its LGBT employees really well — but things have to change at HQ.
Bottom line: until Hyundai, Kia, Porsche, and Suzuki get onboard with LGBT-friendly employment policies, it’ll be hard to endorse any of them fully.
Hi, I just read this article and I am a little sad that Hyundai isn´ t gay friendly collective. I own one and I am very happy with it and many of my friends also drive them. Here in Croatia, Hyundai is very popular because their cars are very well built and they don´t cost much. We don´t have that benefit to be so open with gay issue but small steps are noticeable. Hope that Hyundai will recognize that their opinion towards gay population is wrong.