“Campbell’s Soup Gay Parents Ad” youtube.com

Campbell’s Soup Ad featuring a gay couple

For my artifact, I have chosen a unique and arguably groundbreaking commercial made by Campbell’s which features a gay couple feeding their young child Campbell’s soup. The commercial is one of the few in the United States that features a same-sex couple. One of Campbell’s aims as a company is to feature real people. Their tagline is “Made for real, real life” so by including a gay couple feeding their child the “family friendly” brand soup, they are spreading a message about depicting their customers as they really are, without discriminating against sexual orientation. The audience of this ad is American families who enjoy the products from the Campbell’s company, and possibly international customers as well.

a.) Presented Elements

The presented elements in this ad are two gay father’s feeding their child Campbell’s Star Wars soup. They use the popular quote “I am your father” as a pun because they are both fathers. Campbell’s beings the ad with only one of the fathers visible, quoting the film to his son, who he is spoon feeding soup, then, the camera pans over to the other father repeating the same quote. The ad is a surprise to the viewer the first time it is presented because we do not usually expect to see same-sex couples in commercials. Campbell’s tagline is “Made for real, real people” which is inclusive not just to heterosexual couples, but now the company is also representing same-sex couples, which many companies do not do.

b.) Suggested Elements

Suggested elements in this commercial are Campbell’s making a statement to other large American companies about depicting their customers as they really are. The tagline of “Made for real, real people” is almost a challenge to other companies who have yet to include more diversity in the people who represent them in their ads. By including a same-sex couple in their ad, Campbell’s is setting the bar for other companies to follow, as they are in touch with their “real” customers.

The Ideology of Campbell’s Soup ads

This ideology of this commercial is an ideology of inclusion of diversity. This commercial is empowering same-sex couples and families in the market as they are being included in the phrase “real people”. In the past, gay couples and their families have been something that the media tends to shy away from or hide from. Campbell’s inclusion of them in their ads, which are directed towards families and having the goal of being representative of real people validates same-sex couples in the eyes of the media. This artifact is asking its audience to understand that not all people are the same, and that’s okay. It wants the audience to be okay with same-sex couples because they are a real representation of people in the world, just as a bi-racial couple or a family of immigrants are real representations of people.