LGBT+ people not fairly represented in adverts, study claims

52% of respondents thought that LGBT+ people were ‘invisible’ in mainstream advertising.

A new study shows that gay men do not think that LGBT+ people are adequately represented in adverts.

The research, conducted by UM London and Grindr, comes in the same week as the Diversity in Marketing & Advertising Summit in London.

In a study of over 2,000 self-identifying gay and bisexual millennial men in the UK, two-thirds said that LGBT+ people were not shown enough in advertising campaigns. 52% of respondents thought that LGBT+ people were ‘invisible’ in mainstream advertising.

49% of those who answered said that they’d be more inclined to support brand’s that feature LGBT+ in their adverts.

In December, a study by Lloyds Banking Group found that less than 0.1% of people in adverts are depicted as LGBT+.

While about 18 per cent of people in Britain have a disability, only 0.006 per cent of adverts show disabled people, and less than one per cent show single parents, despite one in four adults in the UK raising children in a single-parent household. And only 0.06 per cent of people featured in British adverts are LGBT+, despite figures showing that at least 1.7 per cent of the country identifies as LGBT+.

After surveying 2,200 people throughout the country, Lloyds discovered that the public would like to see more diversity in advertising, with 65 per cent saying they would “feel more favourable about a brand which reflected diversity in advertising”, and 67 per cent of those who responded said they “expect an advertiser to represent diverse aspects of society.”

In the last few months there have been a number of high-profile adverts featuring LGBT+ characters.

In March, Coca-Cola released an early contender for our favourite ad campaign of the year – and it’s one that manages to combine humour with a refreshingly inclusive take on modern family life.

The hilarious commercial sees a hunky pool boy inspire some really quite understandable thirst in a brother-sister due, who both race to impress their guest with a refreshing Coca-Cola.

Elsewhere, a gay couple are featured in a new advertising campaign for cereal maker Kellogg’s.

There will be eight different couples in the #MyperfectBowl campaign, where they talk about how they like to eat their Corn Flakes.

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