LOS ANGELES — COTR founder and CEO Alicia Sinclair Rosen will be among the panelists of the "LGBTQIA+ Sex Education for Brands" discussion at South by Southwest (SXSW) next month.
The discussion will explore "the lack of authentic LGBTQIA+ sex in advertising," noted a rep. "While cishet sex is frequently used in marketing, LGBTQIA+ representation is often limited to Pride season."
Panelists will focus on "strategy and inclusive representation and serve as a call to brands that rely on sex to sell their products to get informed by the community reinventing sex for the world."
For decades, a festival rep noted, cishet sex has been used to sell everything from condoms to hamburgers, while in June, a rainbow is merely added to "everything from search engines to mouthwash."
“Ultimately, you believe in innovation, culture and progress, or you don’t,” they said. “So, unless your brand becomes celibate, reconsider how you respectfully experiment as a marketer. Culture started this. Brands followed suit. Sex sold. Now we discuss what’s next.”
Rosen noted the COTR family of brands embody her personal values and philosophies "in their own unique ways, making sex more fun, more enjoyable and more adventurous for all who seek it."
“With such a broad spectrum of sexual identities and preferences, equal representation for the LGBTQIA+ community is still lacking as cishet norms and values continue to prevail in advertising,” Rosen said. “I hope that having this important conversation on such a prominent stage as SXSW’s will lead to greater awareness of the need for consumers to see themselves in the marketing from the brands they support.”
The in-person discussion is set for Wednesday, March 16; click here for additional details.
Rosen recently spoke exclusively to XBIZ Premiere about her two-decade mission to upgrade sex toys; click here for that story.
