If you’re the kind of person who fast-forwards past the commercials, then you’d probably miss the whole point of GLAAD’s Amplifier Awards. The third-annual ceremony, held last night at Manhattan’s Altman Room, recognizes print and online advertising and marketing that presents fair and accurate representations of the LGBT community. And unlike the Oscars, there’s more than one winner in some of the categories!
Appropriate to the subject matter, a wide variety of TV stars were on hand: Real Housewives of New York‘s Ramona Singer and Sonja Morgan; Tabitha’s Salon Takeover Tabitha Coffey; RuPaul’s Drag Race contestants Sahara Davenport, Carmen Cerrera and Manila Luzon (who hosted the event); actor Wilson Cruz; The Voice‘s Frenchie Davis; The Fabulous Beekman Boys‘ Josh Kilmer Purcell and Brent Ridge; and TV newsman Thomas Roberts—plus theater stars Anthony Rapp and Christine Ebersole, singer Wynter Gordon and New York City Councilmember Christine Quinn.
And As guests networked and nibbled on a menu of global appetizers, they had the chance to bid on a variety of amazing travel vacations, sponsored by GayCities (shameless plug confession) Oh and did we mention the bare-chested Rokk vodka Vikings that were making the rounds?
Marketing masterminds Bob Witeck and Wes Combs received special honors. Here’s a list of the other winners:
Outstanding TV Campaign: Mainstream Market
“The Web is What You Make of It: It Gets Better Project” (Google Chrome)
Outstanding TV Campaign: LGBT Market
“Cocktail Cabaret” (Absolut Vodka/RuPaul’s Drag Race)
“The Experts” (Expedia/TripOut)
Outstanding Print Campaign: Mainstream Market
“So What’s Cooking in the Kitchen” (GE Monogram)
“Stick Around. Things Get Interesting.” (Kaiser Permanente)
Outstanding Print Campaign: LGBT Market
“LGBT Franchise Product” (American Airlines)
“Not All Ifs in Life are the Same” (MetLife)
“Wells Fargo Advisors ADPA Campaign” (Wells Fargo)
Outstanding Outdoor Campaign
“Beach Towel” (American Airlines)
“Filtering Out Inequality” (Rokk Vodka)
“Protection for All” (Allstate Insurance Co.)
Outstanding Social Marketing Campaign
“AIDS is Not Over” (Desert AIDS Project)
“Be Their Champion” (NYC Administration for Children’s Services)
“La homofobia tiene muchas caras/Homophobia has many victims” (Hispanic Federation & The NY AIDS Institute)
“I Love My Boo” (GMHC)
