The Commercial Closet Student Viewing Guide

The Commercial Closet is a unique, non-profit education and journalism organization dedicated to charting the evolving portrayals of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community in mainstream advertising.

The Commercial Closet believes that by educating the image-makers themselves, future advertising will be more inclusive and affirmative. Since print, television, radio and internet advertising are nearly impossible to avoid, their actual and potential impact on public opinion concerning LGBT issues is tremendous. Along the way, the organization is also creating a historic document that charts the caricature of the LGBT community, and the evolution towards more respectful and fair representation. Its collection is held in video, the project website and in an upcoming documentary film.

The Student Viewing Guide introduces educators and students to basic media literacy concepts and ads from The Commercial Closet's online collection, and helps them to use those tools in analyzing advertising that depicts LGBT people and issues.

Click on the "Download PDF" button above to access the full resource.