Tag: social experiment

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Video: Gay Men Judge How ‘Gay’ Other Gay Men Are Based On Appearance

Tens across the board…

CUT describes its Lineup video series as “a who’s who of of awkward assumptions and judgments.”

Which seems pretty accurate considering the video channel’s latest episode featuring gay men judging other gay men on how gay they looked.

Each participant had to look at a line of 10 gay men and rate their gayness on a scale of 1 (being the least gay) to 10.

“On a scale of 1 to 10, how gay are you?” the men are asked up front.

“100! And, I’m a drag queen.”

“I would say like a 7; I feel like other people would say higher…I don’t think I’m that gay (hair flip)”

The first gay to be judged, wearing pink shorts and a baby blue tank top, scores off the charts for the judges.

“I have a mirror at home, I believe that to be very accurate.”

Number two, clad in khakis and a plaid shirt scores in the 3 to 6 range.

Number three gives off mixed signals  – dirty sneaks but then there’s the painted nails…

Number four’s beefy muscle butt seems to be a heavy factor in his high scores.

There’s a story behind his score of one

Number five, with his low scores, shares that he spent most of his life hiding in the closet, trying to blend in with straight society. He adds he’s only been out seven years. Hmm…

Number six seems more “activist gay” than “neon short shorts gay.”

I’m not sure how I feel about the concept of the social experiment as it seems to just perpetuate stereotypes, right?

But on the other hand, gay men DO do this, don’t you know. And, I appreciate how the men own who they are.

At the end of the segment, one of the judges makes an interesting statement:

“I think I was surprised that somebody would self-identify as a one. I think I take so much pride in being open about everything and I forget that that’s a privilege. So, it’s a reminder that not everybody has had that right or that privilege along the way.”

And there’s your Pride statement for the day. Watch the clip below.

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Marketing Social Experiment Explores How Folks Experience ‘The Fabulous’

The new luxury show store, Palessi (or is it?)

First impressions are everything they say.

And, most of us tend to take things at face value.

So, Payless Shoes wanted to do a ‘social experiment.’

The longtime value shoe store hired an advertising agency, DCX Growth Accelerator, to take over a boutique in Los Angeles and retool it as a fake luxury brand – “Palessi.”

The store front was designed to look very high-end fashion-forward and filled with Payless shoes that normally retail for $19.99 – $39.99.

The ad company then invited social media fashion influencers to a ‘grand opening’ to get their take on the shoes.

The reaction? The fashion insiders were eager to snap up the kicks paying $300, $400, up to $600 a pair.

Along the way, Payless interviewed the fashionistas who gushed about the quality, design and materials.

And then, they revealed the truth.

Check out Good Morning America’s take on the experiment:

Now, to be clear, Payless did refund all the money AND they let the insiders keep the shoes they had ‘purchased.’

The chief creative officer at DCX Growth Accelerator, Doug Cameron, told Good Morning America the idea was “to push the social experiment genre to new extremes, while simultaneously using it to make a cultural statement.”

“Payless customers share a pragmatist point of view, and we thought it would be provocative to use this ideology to challenge today’s image-conscious fashion influencer culture,” he added.

While it’s an interesting episode in marketing, the story stuck with this writer in terms of how social media imaging is being used more and more to create an impression of what folks want us to believe.

Lately, it seems social media isn’t always about sharing an opinion or experience, but creating the illusion of one.

Whether it’s those amazingly hot guys on Instagram we follow for a bit of eye-candy, or the Russian bots that fed folks what they wanted to read about the candidate they either loved or hated during an election cycle.

Or, maybe the cool guys across the gym that look like they have it all going on, but maybe not…?

The reaction to the campaign has been pretty positive across the board. Reading comments on YouTube, you see a lot of “I absolutely LOVE this.”

I don’t know if that’s because viewers revel in seeing folks being fooled?

Or, if there’s comfort in finding out that, for most of us, our every day lives really are just great (without a high sticker price).

A few years ago, my husband and I were furnishing our new house. And while we spent money where we felt we wanted to be sure of long-lasting value, we also mixed in a few pieces from Target that seemed fine and fit right in.

Over the years, and I laugh as I write this, it’s often the Target furniture pieces that visitors note and compliment.

Is there a lesson here?

Maybe we should just pick up that shoe we think we like (or shirt, or car, or politician, or potential new boyfriend/girlfriend), flip it over, see how it feels, and how we feel about it.

How we feel about it.

Things that make you go “hmm…”

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Heineken Ad Highlights Communication On Social Issues

In the wake of Pepsi’s flop of a social issues commercial, Heineken does a great job incorporating different perspectives into a compelling spot.

The video brings together three pairs of strangers with opposing views on climate change, feminism and trans issues.

With no introduction, they’re given tasks to accomplish such as assembling items as a team.

Later in the challenge, their viewpoints are revealed, and they’re given the choice to leave, or stay and have a beer while discussing those topics.

Pepsi missed it, but Heineken’s spot resonates.

Many folks have had to look at whether or not to delete friends from social media over differences, this short video manages to put people ahead of those differences.

I know I’d rather talk, communicate and share perspectives than argue.

And a drink with that conversation might just open a mind or two…?

Watch below. Good job, Heineken.

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Social Experiment: “I’m HIV+”

Even though we are 35+ years into the HIV/AIDS epidemic, the social stigma attached to the virus continues to leave many paralyzed with fear.

With that in mind, George Hankers, a HIV-positive blogger, stood blindfolded in the middle of Trafalgar Square with a sign asking strangers to leave him a message of positivity on a giant poster board.

The incredible amount of love and support from people who wanted him to know that he is not alone was overwhelming for Hankers.

From Mashable:

Hankers’ blindfold is symbolic of his feelings after he was first diagnosed with HIV. He battled with very low self-esteem and felt he’d “been blinded from hope.” But this social experiment has restored his sense of hope.

“The sense of unity I had after the experiment was very heartwarming — people would touch my hand or reach out and give me a hug,” says Hankers. “It made me want to take off the blindfold and not be sheltered from their generosity. It really goes to show that there is more comfort out there for people living with HIV than we initially think.”

You may recall a similar video experiment a couple years wherein a Finnish man stood next to a sign which read, “I’m HIV-Positive. Touch me.”

Follow Hankers’ blog at StillHumanBlog.com.

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Lisbon: Adorable Gay Couple Posts Their Own “Social Experiment”

Adorable YouTube couple Lorenzo and Pedro grew frustrated after the recent videos documenting social experiments in Russia and Ukraine where gay couples walked in public holding hands.

In the videos, the different couples were verbally and physically threatened.

So Lorenzo and Pedro decided to see how their capitol city of Lisbon, Portugal, would react.

And the results were very, very positive! After a few days of shooting throughout the city holding hands, they even bumped it up a bit and shared a few quick PDAs.

While there were what the couple felt were “curious” looks (which Lorenzo admits could have been due to the fact he’s 6’5″ and Pedro is 5’7″), there was no violence, so ugly stares, no verbal abuse at all.

I love how they sum up the experience: “Always walk in public with pride.”

I spent about two months in Lisbon as an actor some years ago while touring with CHICAGO The Musical, and I can attest to how friendly and warm the city can be.

Bravo to Lorenzo and Pedro for proving the world CAN be civilized.

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Social Experiment: Two Men Hold Hands In Russia

As a social experiment, two guys hold hands while taking a walk in Russia.

The reactions are, sadly, what you might expect.

Throughout the “experiment” the reactions range from rude stares to ugly expletives to physical “body checks.” In the screen capture above, you can see the wide open sidewalk, but the man on the right makes a point of roughly “bumping” into the men.

Almost a million views in a day.

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Berlin: Artist Engages Men On Grindr Projected On Giant LED Screen For Public View

Dutch gay artist Dries Verhoeven is currently in the middle of a three week “live art installation” called Wanna Play? wherein he is engaging men on the dating app Grindr and projecting the conversations on a huge LED wall in a German storefront for the world to watch.

He is doing so without informing the men that the public can see the interactions.

Not surprisingly, many of the men are very upset.

Via Gay Star News:

Parker Tilghman is one of the men furious over the art show. When he started chatting to Verhoeven, they traded pictures and chatted for awhile before he was asked whether he was interested in shaving the artist’s beard.

‘Given the odd nature of our conversation I comically asked, “are you going to murder me?” to which he responded, “no, but i’m afraid you might be the one to murder me.”

When Tilghman went to the address the artist gave him, standing on the corner of Marienenstrasse, he saw his Grindr chat out there for everyone to see.

‘Someone involved in the project confronted me and I shouted at him louder than I have ever shouted in my life. The entire block stopped, at one point they started clapping. I screamed, “How dare you?

‘”You are violating peoples lives, you are publicly mocking people and projecting the pictures and words onto a screen that an entire city block in one of the busiest parts of Kreuzberg for everyone to see.

‘”What you are doing is unethical….At no point did you have my consent or notify me that you would be doing anything of the sort. You cannot exploit people like this for your bullshit hipster Berlin art world crap.”‘

The live-stream of the project is here, but it looks like the screen is not currently projecting conversations.

Word has gotten around about the little “social experiment.” As such, some of Verhoeven’s conversations go like this:

(via JMG)