The
services
that
a
gay
Web
site
provides
could
be
too
real
for
reality
television.
Officials
at
Bravo
and
Bravo’s
parent
company,
NBC,
recently
rejected
an
ad
for
MyGaydar.com
to
appear
on
the
summer
hit
“Boy
Meets
Boy,”
television’s
first
gay
dating
reality
show.
The
site
contains
“borderline
pornography,”
according
to
a
Bravo
spokesperson
who
agreed
to
be
interviewed
only
if
his
name
was
not
reported.
“Had
the
site
been
a
regular
dating
site
without
pornographic
content,
it
would
be
fine,”
the
spokesperson
said.
Bravo
decided
against
airing
the
commercial
after
reviewing
an
informational
packet
about
MyGaydar.com.
The
30-second
television
commercial
contained
some
“borderline
inappropriate
content”
as
well,
the
spokesperson
said.
But
the
opportunity
to
advertise
a
service
for
gay
men
on
a
national
level
has
never
been
better,
said
David
Muniz,
founder
of
MyGaydar.com.
“There
is
a
plethora
of
gay
programming
coming
out
on
cable
and
it
looked
like
the
perfect
marriage
—
a
venue
where
we
could
promote
our
products
as
we
had
all
along
with
television,”
Muniz
said.
“If
the
program
itself
is
controversial,
why
not
take
controversial
advertising?”
The
MyGaydar.com
spot
opens
with
a
lone
man
sipping
a
bright
orange
beverage
next
to
a
pool.
A
bikini-clad
woman
attempts
to
grab
his
attention
by
shaking
her
breasts,
but
the
man
doesn’t
notice,
causing
the
woman
to
exchange
a
baffled
look
with
her
female
friend.
Then
a
muscular
blonde
man
appears
and
sits
down
next
to
the
other
man
to
share
his
drink,
while
house
music
starts
thumping.
“MyGaydar.com
—
what
you
want,
when
you
want
it,”
an
announcer
says
as
the
commercial
ends.
The
Web
site
launched
in
2000
and
now
serves
450,000
U.S.
residents
and
1.2
million
members
worldwide,
according
to
the
company.
Bravo’s
decision
not
to
air
the
spot
is
a
“double
standard,”
according
to
Muniz.
“If
you
look
at
the
other
advertising
out
there,
they
will
take
advertising
geared
toward
gay
men,
but
they
won’t
take
something
that
is
truly
a
gay
product
for
gay
men,”
he
said.
But
the
Web
site
runs
afoul
of
the
agreement
that
contestants
on
“Boy
Meets
Boy”
signed
with
Bravo
banning
sexual
content
on
the
show,
the
Bravo
spokesperson
said.
“That
show
was
not
about
sex,”
the
spokesperson
said.
Still,
the
ads
for
MyGaydar.com
do
meet
content
standards
for
Time
Warner,
a
leading
cable
television
provider
in
the
New
York
region,
which
has
aired
MyGaydar.com
ads
since
October
during
late-night
episodes
of
“Oprah,”
Muniz
said.
“We
were
allowed
to
be
on
after
midnight
on
cable
programming,”
he
said.
“It
was
a
hard
marriage
to
figure
out
what
gay
people
are
watching.”
Muniz
said
airing
the
spots
on
“Boy
Meets
Boy”
seemed
a
natural
fit
after
he
viewed
the
show’s
first
episode.
MyGaydar.com
was
going
to
pay
$10,000
for
each
30-second
spot
that
Bravo
ran
nationally,
an
increase
from
the
$1,200
per
spot
the
Internet
company
paid
Time
Warner
for
regional
advertising,
according
to
Muniz.
Chisholm
Properties,
which
owns
and
operates
two
gay
nightclubs
in
Atlanta
and
other
gay
clubs
in
Pensacola,
Fla.
and
New
Orleans,
also
saw
the
marketing
potential
during
Bravo’s
gay
summer
hits,
said
Terri
Bottom,
a
spokesperson
for
the
company.
“We
all
love
that
show,
‘Queer
Eye
for
the
Straight
Guy,’”
Bottom
said.
“It’s
a
good
value
too.”
Chisholm
Properties
runs
ads
during
the
show
in
all
three
markets
—
Atlanta,
Pensacola
and
New
Orleans.
3000
W
Alameda
Ave.
Burbank,
CA
91523-0001
818-840-3333
www.bravotv.com
30
Rockefeller
Plaza
New
York,
NY
10112
212-664-4444
www.nbc.com
