The GAP and JCPenney: Disrupting Heteronormativity in Advertising

The recent JCPenney ads for Mother’s and Father’s Day and the new GAP ads that feature same-sex couples and parents have caused controversy, primarily from the conservative group, One Million Moms. Their response, fueled by anger over JCPenney’s hiring Ellen Degeneres as a spokesperson, claimed that including gay individuals and couples in advertising violated religious values. Their reaction included the following statement: "We must remain diligent and stand up for Biblical values and truth. Scripture says multiple times that homosexuality is wrong, and God will not tolerate this sinful nature."

The controversy over the ad campaigns do more than reveal homophobia and disagreements on definitions of values (see Ellen Degeneres’ response to the criticism): they disrupt the pattern of heteronormativity in advertising.

Heteronormativity is the social bias that assumes opposite-sex coupling is the norm. Our culture is heteronormative on a global level and is structured around the expectation that heterosexuality is the standard. For instance, individuals are never expected to come out of the closet as straight, only gay, because heterosexuality is assumed as the norm. Being gay, therefore, is a deviation from being straight, a term that implies a standard model. Advertising reflects this standard: erectile dysfunction ads never depict two men, Father’s Day and Mother’s Day ads (until now) have not portrayed same-sex parents, insurance and home security ads feature nostalgic montages of opposite sex couples and their families, and Valentine’s Day jewelry ads always depict a male gift giver and a female receiver.

GAP and JCPenney’s inclusive ad campaigns deconstruct heteronormative marketing by including same-sex couples and representing the unacknowledged LGBTQ partner, parent, and shopper. While some have criticized the companies for displacing advocacy with marketing, their choice to portray and therefore recognize gay individuals, couples, and families is nevertheless significant in disrupting systems of heteronormative dominance and standards.