A Thai lip balm commercial is making the waves for showcasing a BL/gay storyline.
It seems the lip balm company KA Lip Care from Thailand (which ships internationally) knows its target demographic well as the company decided to make it latest commercial into a high school drama with a gay twist.
The advertisement starts with a high school teen confronting another after the boy broke his little sister’s heart.
But soon the boy finds out there’s more going on with the story and the commercial suddenly takes a gay twist.
Some feel this commercial is a surprise and triumph for television in Thailand, but it isn’t quite that.
First off, Thailand is actually a very LGBTQ friendly place. Despite Taiwan being the first Asian country to legalize gay marriage, many think of Thailand when they think of gay Asian getaways.
On top of that, Thailand has an ever increasing interest in BL television.
BL, or Boys’ Love, is the genre of comics, web series/tv shows, and movies that focus on gay romance. But keep in mind, these BL stories are often created with a female audience in mind (This follows along the similar idea of straight men loving lesbian porn).
Thailand constantly has new BL shows releasing with campy and cheesy flairs like Make It Right the Series or Two Moons the Series. And, lately the genre is growing to include more mature/realistic series like Gay Ok Bangkok, Together With You, and Part Time the Series.
All that said, while this commercial certainly isn’t new for Thailand and is still female audience focused, it’s also noted representation for gay romance and people in Asia. And that’s pretty cool.
