Stoli Vodka To Produce Gay Series

Stoli Vodka has partnered with Carat Entertainment to produce a five-part series on the real-life experiences of gay Americans titled "Stolichnaya Presents Be Real" that will air commercial-free on MTV Networks' Logo.
Stoli described the program as the "first-of-its-kind commercial-free television series." Such other shows as Fox's "24" and FX's "The Shield" have run commercial-free episodes sponsored by advertisers, but airing an entire series commercial-free is rare.
The series will portray the experiences of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender community through different passages of life -- from the perspective of two different people in each episode.
"The stories of LGBT people are as remarkable as they are diverse," Logo senior vp and GM Lisa Sherman said. "This unique partnership with Stoli creates yet another platform to explore the extraordinary experiences of LGBT people across America."
While Stoli will not be integrated into the show, it will bookend the series with traditional 30-second spots and Stoli logos will appear at the opening and closing of each episode.
Stoli will support the series through online user-generated content and cross-promotions at select bars, hotels and restaurants across the U.S. as well as the "Stoli Hotel," a live brand experience that will travel from city to city after its Los Angeles launch. A national advertising campaign will invite consumers to submit stories about people who "stay real to themselves and the LGBT community." Stoli also will present screenings of the series at select gay and lesbian film festivals.
Stoli senior brand manager Adam Rosen said the series will help Stoli "break through the clutter" and deliver its brand message in a "culturally relevant way" to the LGBT community.
"What we value more than anything else is authenticity and the idea of being genuine," Rosen said. "When you live your life as a gay man or woman, you are constantly making a conscious choice to stay true to yourself. That action is the exact representation of what the Stoli brand is all about. Targeting this community is a perfect fit with our brand message."
Rosen said the series, along with Stoli's financial contributions to the LGBT and AIDS-related charities, will help the brand demonstrate its long-term commitment to the LGBT community. "To us this series is a statement that Stoli Vodka is making an effort to be relevant and partner with the LGBT community so that we can create a long-term relationship so when the community looks to support a brand they will support Stoli."
To date, Stoli's partnership with Logo for the series represents the largest investment in the LGBT audience by the brand and its parent company Pernod Ricard USA.
The series will air Mondays beginning May 14. It will include profiles such as the story of Calvin, who almost commits suicide at the Golden Gate Bridge but turns his life around and becomes a major activist in the San Francisco community after coming out; Christine, a lesbian diagnosed with breast cancer who fights back after having a double mastectomy and starts a company that takes photographs of cancer survivors; and Angelica, a transgender person who meets her half-sister for the first time after not talking to anyone in her family for 10 years.
from The Hollywood Reporter

American Family Association Seeks Support Against Sears Homo Advertisting

Sears Supports Homosexual TV Network With Advertising
Two-minute infomercials sponsored explicitly by Sears helps keep the homosexual network on the air.
Sears has thrown its support to the LOGO network. LOGO is the 24-hour cable television network dedicated to programming for lesbians, gays, bisexuals and transgenders according to a homosexual advertising website. It is carried on many cable systems around the country. Many of you have been forced to accept it as part of your cable package. Sears is now helping to make it mainstream!
Sear's advertising will help LOGO air shows like "Sex 2K Drag Kings," "The Gayest and Greatest of 2006," and "Transgeneration."
Sears advertising (two-minute infomercials) will go to help the fledging network get on firm financial ground. Sears advertising is financing LOGO's push to legalize homosexual marriage in addition to promoting the homosexual lifestyle.
Sears is owned by Kmart Corporation.

Take Action

1. Send an email to Sears asking them to cancel their advertising on LOGO.

2. Call your local Sears store and ask why Sears is supporting the homosexual network with its advertising.

3. Forward this email to your friends and family.

Click Here to Send Your Email to Sears Now!

If you think our efforts are worthy, would you please support us with a small gift? Thank you for caring enough to get involved.
Sincerely,

Donald E. Wildmon, Founder and Chairman
American Family Association
P.S. Please print this and share with others.

A copy of the e-mail they wrote and wish you to send. Garibaldi

Dear Mr. Lewis,

I am both shocked and disappointed that Sears would help the homosexual network LOGO with its advertising.

I ask that you immediately cease advertising on LOGO.

Your decision will definitely help me in making a decision on whether or not I should continue to support Sears with my purchases. If Wal-Mart can stay neutral in the culture war, surely Sears can do the same.

I await your decision.

from American Family Association

Logo Network Aims Sales Pitch At Movies

MTV Networks’ Logo has embarked on an aggressive campaign to pick up studio sponsorships, pitching itself as the only place on television where the film industry can reach a dedicated gay/lesbian audience. And while it’s little surprise that studios are looking to target Logo’s core demo—gay consumers go to the movies three times as often as their heterosexual counterparts—some of the genres the network has signed up might raise a few eyebrows.
According to a recent study conducted by the Simmons Market Research Bureau, gay moviegoers are almost 75 percent more likely to go out and see a horror movie, and index about 54 percent higher when a sci-fi title is on the marquee. As such, the network is doing brisk business with studios that specialize in genre pictures, such as Lions Gate Films, which in late October committed to a three-week flight on Logo for the splatterfest Saw III.
Lisa Sherman, senior vp, general manager of Logo, said that while shilling the Grand Guignol ethos of pictures like Saw III may seem counterintuitive in light of her network’s sophisticated audience, the skew towards horror titles may have more to do with the recent buzz around the genre.
“We like gore as much as glitter, but it’s all a function of being on the cutting edge,” Sherman said. “On a film’s opening weekend, we’re more than three times as likely to be filling the seats.”
Motivating consumers to go see a film on its first weekend is crucial, especially when a studio is opening a genre picture like Saw III, which opened at No. 1 Halloween weekend, with a $34.3 million box office. “Horror absolutely has to open big, because the drop-off in the second and third weeks tends to be significantly higher than drama, which skews older,” said Erika Schimik, senior vp of media and research, Lions Gate. Schimik said that Logo’s target demo makes the net a great fit for Lions Gate. “The Logo viewer is someone who’s a tastemaker, and is more likely to tell their friends and family to go see a particular movie,” she said. “They’re similar to us in that they’re young and nimble and willing to take risks.”
With a potential audience that boasts some $641 billion in buying power, Logo has been able to grow its client base from three charter sponsors at launch to over 80, including high-end brands like Lexus and Saab and a number of newcomers to the space. “About 65 percent of our clients had never advertised in the gay marketplace before,” Sherman said, a roster that includes retail (Sears), fast food (Subway) and telecom (Sprint/Nextel).
Predictably, the dollars have followed. According to Kagan Research estimates, Logo will finish the year with gross ad revenues of $3.9 million, up from $500,000 a year ago. Since launching in June 2005, the network has nearly doubled its distribution to 25 million subs.
“Regardless of their affiliation [with MTVN], they’re still selling at bargain CPMs, although those are definitely creeping up,” said Stephanie Blackwood, managing director of Double Platinum, an agency focused on the gay/lesbian market. “It’s a great opportunity to reach a very attractive audience.”
from Media Week

Stoli Vodka Backs Gay Doc On Logo TV

In The Latest Example of a marketer becoming a producer and sponsoring commercial-free programming, Stolichnaya vodka has linked with the Logo channel for a documentary series about gay life in America.
Called "Be Real" and scheduled for the spring, Stolichnaya will help underwrite production and present each episode without ad breaks. Co-producer Logo is part of MTV Networks, and targets a lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) audience.
The effort is emblematic of two trends in the changing dynamics of television advertising. It's driven partly by viewer fragmentation and the growth in DVR-aided viewing. Advertiser involvement in production is a way to craft content as a platform for brand messages. The increasing interest in exclusively sponsoring commercial-free broadcasts is an attempt to build brand affinity via goodwill.
WPP Group's massive media-buying operation, GroupM, joined with ABC earlier this month to announce joint production on a six-episode drama, offering an outlet for GroupM clients. And this summer, TNT aired three ad-free premieres of drama series underwritten by advertisers.
Stolichnaya's involvement in "Be Real" represents the largest-ever investment targeting an LGBT audience by both the brand and parent Pernod Ricard USA, the company said.
The series is an outgrowth of a "Be Real" documentary that premiered last night and will be repeated through the series' run. Stolichnaya will also promote the "Be Real" programming via a national ad campaign, an online effort with user-generated content and other initiatives.
from Media Daily News

Gay Twin Brothers On LOGO Reality Show

Scrolling through satellite or cable menus these days takes so long that most people long ago gave up searching for new channels that way. So it would be easy to miss the Logo channel's reality series, "Jacob and Joshua: Nemesis Rising." (beginning Monday, 10-11 p.m. ET) Logo is owned by MTV networks, which advertises it as the country's leading source of entertainment for the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender audience. Yet you don't have to be a niche viewer to experience the poignancy at the heart of "Nemesis Rising."
Jacob and Joshua Miller are attractive identical-twin brothers from a Montana farm who were raised as Jehovah's Witnesses and are now trying to make it as a (nonreligious) pop/rock duo called "Nemesis." Musically speaking, they don't seem to have a lot to say, but they do have a gimmick of sorts: The twins are gay.
Swining Life
The trouble is that one of them, Josh, is not so sure he wants to be marketed as a gay guy. Brother Jacob, the more organized and driven of the two, has a live-in boyfriend and is constantly after his twin to come out to everyone, including their still-in-the dark parents up in Montana.
Pressure is coming from the brothers' record label and manager too, who apparently figure that the band is not worth investing in any longer unless the boys find a new hook -- their gayness. But Josh can't stop worrying about the heartache this might cause his parents, for instance. Unnecessary heartache, in his view.
Not that Josh is shy or sexually inactive. "When it comes to hooking up with guys in the Internet, I'm like a kid in a candy store," he says. He's definitely out in the clubs, dancing the night away while brother Jacob stays at home worrying about their floundering career.
In endless arguments with his twin, though, Josh keeps insisting that his sexual orientation is only a tiny fraction of who he is, and that what seems hip and easy about their swinging life in L.A. makes his brother forget "that this is not the way the rest of the world lives." Besides, he adds, "I think that the whole gay thing is a little weird. All of a sudden everybody is gay. I don't get it."
Both Ways
Does that make Josh a pathetic coward, a victim, in a sense, of straight-world norms and perceptions? Who knows. Logo helpfully gave reviewers a "Nemesis" music video. In a couple of scenes we see the beefcake twins briefly eyeing beefcake men. In other, longer sequences, however, they're caressing or undulating over women. Looks like even if Josh and Joshua have since come out to their parents, the record company decided it was safer to sell them both ways.
from The Wall Street Journal

'Noah's Arc' Quickly Becomes A Logo Hit

The cast and crew of TV's "Noah's Arc" are planning a raucous celebration tonight at a West Hollywood club to mark the series' second-season finale. The party is also their way of highlighting their own arc — from low-budget DVD project to a slick-looking cable series that has not only landed on the pop culture "gay-dar" but has won a cult following on the mainstream radar.
One of the few series on broadcast television with an all-African American cast, "Noah's Arc" in two seasons has emerged as one of the most high-profile series on Logo, the Viacom-owned, advertiser-supported cable network aimed at LGBT — lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender — audiences. The series is "Sex and the City" coupled with a "Gay Boyz N the Hood" remix — a struggling screenwriter and his three close friends experiencing life and love in Los Angeles.
While awaiting word that the series will be renewed for a third season — a prospect that insiders say is likely — Patrik-Ian Polk, the 32-year-old creator and lead producer, said the show's reach has already far exceeded his initial vision of a direct-to-consumer entertainment project that would be marketed to gay viewers on DVD.
"It's kind of crazy the way everything has worked out," said Polk, whose 6-foot-5 frame is the physical embodiment of the name of his production company — Tall Skinny Black Boy. "But we're showing a very interesting look into this world and culture," he said, noting that the mix of comedy and drama gives the show an honesty that makes it more accessible to a wider audience.
The show is leading a kind of double life; the four photogenic stars of the series have been cover boys on the Advocate and other gay publications, and Jet magazine last month published an article on the series. Its loyal target audience has been joined by "straight" fans — particularly women, say cast members.
Gay activists, meanwhile, are praising "Noah's Arc" as a series that casts an insightful spotlight on the lifestyle of black gay men — a way of life that has been a largely taboo subject in the black community.
"We see this show as a groundbreaking, landmark series that really shows the diversity of the LGBT community," said Monica Taher, People of Color media director for GLAAD (Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation).
Added Keith Boykin, a host of BET's "My Two Cents" and editor and publisher of a black gay and lesbian website: " 'Noah's Arc' is both a burden and a blessing. It's a burden because it's the first black gay TV show, and it's carrying all the weight. But it's a blessing because it's showing the world that … not all gays are white."
With "Noah's Arc," Polk, a former executive for MTV who also developed projects for the production arm of Kenneth "Babyface" Edmonds and Tracey Edmonds, says he hopes he has torn down the extreme stereotypes that taint the portrayals of gay black men — either flamboyant "queens" or super-macho types — while providing a vehicle that can educate mainstream audiences about their lifestyle.
"For years, I heard that black people are more homophobic," he said. "I don't think that's necessarily true, but there seems to be a 'don't ask, don't tell' approach toward this."
Polk said he sees his role not only as a show producer but as a cultural anthropologist.
"When you grow up and there's a lack of representation, it can be difficult to develop a sense of values," Polk said. "With the high suicide rate and the high HIV rate, there are not a lot of examples of depictions of healthy, happy guys. Parents of these men can look at our show and say, 'Oh, I get it.' "
The series stars Darryl Stephens as Noah, who struggles not only with his screenwriter aspirations but also with his love life, particularly with Wade (Jensen Atwood), a more successful screenwriter who is questioning his sexuality. Noah's friends include Alex (Rodney Chester), an HIV counselor; Ricky (Christian Vincent), the sexually insatiable owner of a Melrose clothing store; and Chance (Doug Spearman), who is trying to maintain a steady relationship with his boyfriend, Eddie, and Eddie's young daughter. (The first letters of Noah's friends spell out the "arc" of the title.)
Although "Noah's Arc" has the look and feel of a single-camera comedy, particularly when the four friends are bantering about men and fashion, the tone often turns serious. In this season, Noah was the victim of gay-bashing. Ricky wonders whether he can become involved with a man who has HIV.
Brian Graden, the president of MTV Networks Music Group Entertainment and of Logo, said he was proud that the network's first scripted series seems to be catching on.
"I get incredible feedback on 'Noah's Arc,' " he said. "The No. 1 compliment is how likable the show is. It's our first breakout hit."
from The Los Angeles Times