Single Frame: Comfortably Different - A Valentine's Day Beer Ad
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Below is an image of a married couple shot 2 years ago at the Vera Katz Esplanade here in Portland, OR. On the left we see a U.S.-born Puerto Rican and on the right is a Brazilian born, American citizen. See the full story and more below.
"Not Giving A Fuck Does Not Mean Being Indifferent; It Means Being Comfortable With Being Different." - Mark Manson
Background:
This photo was directed by myself shot by Chris Krieb during our time as the marketing team at GW. There was no real plan of action for this. No extended time in meetings hammering out direction. Nothing.
I needed a Valentine's Day photo and Joel (pictured left) just so happened to be the only person in the office that day who was (and still is) in a legitimate relationship as a married man. I asked him if he and JP (his husband pictured right) could be drink beer in a V-Day image for our social channels. He replied to me saying yes but had to make sure I knew he is married to a dude. My reply? "Yeah? And?"
So we hustled down to the waterfront, poured our loving subjects a couple of beers, snapped off a few photos and that was it. No agenda. Nothing. Just a pure and natural display of true love.
Did I know that this would garner attention? Yep! Did I know that our international audience might not be as accepting the tiny community of Portland is to gay people? YUP! Did I give a flying fuck that it wasn't a "traditional" V-Day image? Not. One. Bit.
What I am getting at here is that perhaps this weighted divulgence of "uniting" alongside the historically disenfranchised comes off as your next marketing ploy more than it does as something you acknowledge and respect. It comes off as the next wave of gaslighting rather than a genuine care for these communities.
So I challenge each and every one of you to step back and ask yourself at every single moment "am I doing this because this comes natural and I just don't give a fuck -OR- am I doing this because I give too much of a fuck?"
Salut,
JHB