My life. My card. My romantic life partner
and the child we flew to Russia to adopt?
Last month while flipping through an issue of Rolling Stone, one of my female co-workers pointed out Laird Hamilton's American Express ad and mentioned how it struck her as incredibly homoerotic. It was something about the presence of the baby without a female, she said.
I've seen it also in Men's Journal, Men's Health and Details — this two-page spread seems to be getting a lot of play.
So I'm curious. What's your take? Is it playing to the average queer eye as much as the imagery on the walls of an Abercrombie & Fitch store? Or is the lack of a female presence irrelevant and it's an orientation-neutral ad?
5/10 update: File this under "wild coincidence": The new issue of Men's Journal features a story about Hamilton and features photos gleaned from the same shoot.
If it was a photo of his wife Gabby with her pro valleyball teammate and her daughter, would you still "feel the homoerotic" vibes? Well, I think the father-daughter relationship that they share (& show) is kick-butt.
Posted by: Amy Hamilton | July 11, 2006 at 10:34 PM
Um..If Laird is not married anymore,Do you think he can come pick me up??
Posted by: karen | August 25, 2005 at 02:36 PM
Sooo not gay! Dave Kalama is Laird's tow-in partner, he's who they refer to as the "sherpa" in the AMEX commercials. It makes sense if you know who they are, they're sort of famous as a team. But they spend so much time together they are practiacally married! Oh, and to Kajira, I think Dave's divorced.
Posted by: surf rat girl | August 15, 2005 at 04:53 PM
I totally don't get ANY kind of gay angle out of the Laird/baby ad. I had no idea who he was either. I do now. WOW! I thought the ad was at once sexy/sweet. There should be more ads of fathers & offspring. Really sexy.
Posted by: CLB | August 10, 2005 at 02:40 AM
Spotted this ad in Outside. Definite homoerotic vibes big time - got us on line checking out Laird. BTW as a couple of gay guys who are into outdoor activities we found the ad very inspiring.... SURFS UP DOGGIE!
Posted by: Martin & Patrick | June 11, 2005 at 12:48 PM
I agree I came online to find out if he was gay, too...It's a very odd ad to not include his wife and to rather include his partner...business partner that is, of course ;)
Posted by: Dave | May 17, 2005 at 05:12 PM
Not gay, though of course one can never say for sure. But the baby is Laird's daughter, Reece Viola, with his second wife volleyball star/model Gabrielle Reece. He also has a ten-year-old daughter from his first marriage.
The guy is his tow-in partner and fellow big-wave surfer and BFF Dave Kalama, who's also married and has two kids. I believe the dog is Laird's and is called Ridge. I can't believe I'm such a surf groupie chick that I know all this.
Posted by: kajira | May 13, 2005 at 05:04 PM
The baby is an odd touch...
Posted by: jeff | May 09, 2005 at 04:49 PM
Yes--kind of interesting. My reaction was immediate though.
Posted by: Deliverance | May 05, 2005 at 12:56 PM
I was the same as you, Chuck. Nothing else had ever led me to believe Hamilton is anything but straight, so the possible gay angle of the ad had never crossed my mind until my co-worker mentioned it. I wanted to say the gay angle would never cross the minds of straight men, especially in red states, but my friend from Deliverance blew that notion out of the water with the first comment. lol
Posted by: Steve | May 05, 2005 at 11:13 AM
Maybe it's just because I've been a fan of Laird's and knew he was married, but I never took it as homoerotic. Certainly nice eye candy though.
Posted by: Chuck | May 05, 2005 at 10:07 AM
I think it would be hard to "read" the ad as anything but homoerotic. For me, it's not just the two men, and it's not just the two men and the baby: It's the two men, a baby, and what seems like "their" dog. In my semiotic world, dogs are *very* domestic, I guess.
I've been taken with the ad every time, and wherever, I've seen it. When I saw it in Cargo Magazine, which has a very, um, metrosexual vibe, I definitely wondered if the marketers were targeting gay readers. But I've seen it in SI, too, and that seems a more unlikely place for ad-types to place a consciously homoerotic ad. (Imagine the feedback from uptight straight readers.) Of course, a straight man might "read" the ad completely differently than I do, but it's hard for me to see how....
In fact, when I first saw the ad, I did what you did: I immediately did some internet research to see if Hamilton was gay.
Posted by: Jimmy | May 04, 2005 at 07:35 PM
I just checked. He's married to Gabrielle Reece and has one child.
Posted by: Steve | May 04, 2005 at 01:27 PM
Nope, he's married and has at least one kid, if I'm remembering correctly. I think the guy in the photo is one of his business partners.
Posted by: Steve | May 04, 2005 at 01:21 PM
I think it's definitely playing toward the queer eye. Without the commentary, maybe not, but with it definitely yes. BTW, is Laird gay?
Posted by: Deliverance | May 04, 2005 at 01:11 PM