I'm Glad I Failed

The advertisement I chose was from a booklet from a conference (Creating Change) I recently attended in Dallas, Texas. I chose the advertisement because of its uniqueness and subject matter. The subject of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Questioning (LGBTQ) youth is something I feel very strongly about. Organizations like the Trevor Project and other LGBT suicide prevention hotlines are really important and are rarely talked about. I am very intrigued by the advertisement, because before I figured out what organization it was advertising, all I saw was “I’m Glad I Failed.” Failure is something that we usually deem as a negative thing so to see that in large font on an advertisement made me want to read more about what this person was glad they failed. As I read on and realized they failed at a suicide attempt, it intrigued me more, because I had never seen an advertisement like this. In the past I have seen advertisements for crisis hotlines, which just have some people hanging out, and the number to call at the bottom, but this ad brought the purpose of the Trevor Project to life. By putting a face to LGBTQ youth suicide the advertisement makes the subject more personal and more real.

The image on the advertisement is an Asian girl, who is about high school age and attractive. The expression on her face is neither happy nor sad; rather she looks content. I would categorize her as feminine based on her long hair although we do not know how she dresses, since the shot is mostly from the neck up. I think the ad does a great job of trying to be inclusive, since she is not a stereotypical Caucasian gay male, which when we think of LGBT issues, that is the majority of representation we usually see in the media. The ad also plays on the idea of stereotypes in which Asians are supposed to be intelligent, so the idea of an Asian youth failing at something can also be an attention grabber. Another thing the advertisement hits on is the fact that statistics show that girls and women are more likely to attempt suicide and fail, than boys and men.

I personally like the ad and even did some research into for this analysis. It is actually one in a series of four. The others are an African American gay male, a Latina gay female, and a Caucasian gay male. My only issue with the ad campaign is everyone identifies as gay except for the Asian girl, I think bisexual and transgender youth should have been represented in this campaign. Overall I think the advertisement is very affective and original.

Resources: 
Pictures
http://www.thetrevorproject.org/news/im-glad-i-failed

**Disclaimer: All photos are property of The Trevor Project© and I do not claim to own any of them.**