How would you like your ice cream? Do you like it with cherry on top? Or whipped cream?
Or perhaps something extra like a side of transphobia?
How does a cup of ice cream become involved with transsexuality anyway? Last week, a promo clip from Swensen's went semi-viral on social media before it was taken off of Facebook and YouTube. The now-deleted clip advertises a new flavour of ice cream from the brand. In the ad, a pretty woman is seen looking around at couples eating ice cream. She then orders her own and a man approachs her, asking flirtatiously if she wants company. The woman speaks up in a deep manly voice, revealing herself to be a transgender woman. The men around them make a face, and the flirty guy abrupty leaves at this revelation. At the end of the clip, the transgender woman is seen having ice cream happily and uncaringly by herself.
The said video clip was actually released last month to no issue from the general public, until it was discovered and shared last Wednesday by some Facebook users and LGBT activists, asking if this kind of promotional material is still acceptable in this time and era.
Some may wonder what is wrong with it anyway? Was it not intended for a carefree laugh? Why aren't we laughing? Why so serious? Well, why ever should we accept an act of transphobia masked under a pretense of a joke? A laughter?
I find myself trying to understand what sort of decision went into the direction of this ice cream ad. Was it ignorance? Or was transphobia -- and also homophobia -- already normalised and has tangled itself into the general Thai conscience?
It was quite disappointing that the issue wasn't picked up by most mainstream media, although that can't really be helped with all the other high-profile drama from the past few days. I only saw a few Facebook pages that addressed the ice cream clip. A few days later, the issue was mostly dropped, with no explanation, clarification, or action taken by Swensen's itself. The clip was deleted from the company's official social media accounts, and that was pretty much it. The problem seemingly swept under the rug.
But not everyone decided to drop it, of course. Local LGBT advocacy organisations like Bangkok Rainbow issued an open letter online to Minor Food, which runs Swensen's, asking the company to reconsider its take on this video clip. Some members of the LGBT community, as well as activists, criticised the clip on social media. Based on my conversation with one activist, we now question whether the direction of this advertisement reflects the company's policy regarding employment of LGBT people as well.
Out of curiosity, I sent a message to Swensen's on Facebook to seek their explanation and reason behind the clip. Kudos to whoever is managing the brand's Facebook page, at least. I got a polite reply two minutes after my message was sent. The reply said that my enquiry has already been passed to the executives and that there were ongoing company discussions about this issue. That was 5pm on Wednesday. On Friday, I contacted Swensen's again on Facebook and got a reply that the online admin has yet to receive any update on the situation. By the time this piece is published, maybe the company will have already reacted publicly to this. Maybe it won't. We'll never know. I will probably not be surprised if they decide to let this issue turn quiet and disappear since it is almost forgotten anyway. I will, however, be dissapointed -- as I know many transgender and other customers in Thailand who have seen the clip already are -- and will reconsider my choice the next time I want an ice cream.
Still, consider this an open letter to all other companies out there. Many global brands and advertising agencies have become more LGBT-friendly and inclusive in recent years. We've had ads from shampoo companies like Sunsilk and Pantene celebrating famous transgender women in their promotional materials.
Recently, in a Coke ad in Thailand, a teenage boy comes out to his mother with his boyfriend sitting right next him. In an act of acceptance, the mother pours the soft drink for her son's boyfriend.
As for Samsung, there's a scene in a recent ad that features two women cuddling. One of them has a baby bump, and the two are happily looking at an ultrasound of the baby on their smart device together.
I guess we can't always assume that these have all been a product of gender recognition, sensitivity and equality. Maybe it's about that, or maybe it's not entirely about that. Maybe it's about business, about recognising and appealing to potential customers with buying power like the LGBT population, and recognising that the world is trending towards inclusivity rather than the opposite. It's up to the brands to choose to embrace every community of people or push certain populations away.
Melalin Mahavongtrakul is a feature writer for the Life section of the Bangkok Post.