Attempt to suppress ad featuring drag queen backfires and creates a 'Streisand effect'

 

An attempt to pull an ad featuring a drag performer gives us all a wonderful opportunity to witness a media term entitled the 'Streisand effect.' Without going into too much detail - yes it is named after gay favorite Barbra Streisand - the Streisand effect is when an attempt to keep people from seeing information causes more people to see the information. In other words, the attention generated from attempts to suppress the information creates interest, thus making people aware of it and wanting to see it. 

Or in this case, according to LGBTQNation: 

Samsung decided to remove an advertisement from airing in Singapore and deleted it from online channels, shortly after posting it, because it “may be perceived as insensitive and offensive to some members of our local community.” The full ad, just under five minutes, featured unknowing individuals — wearing Samsung headphones — hearing their loved ones read letters they wrote about them using a Samsung device. One of the individuals featured was a Muslim woman, hearing her son read a letter thanking her for being accepting of the fact that he is a drag performer. After hearing him read it, he surprises her donning drag apparel and they embrace.

 As with things amplifying the visibility of LGBTQ people, some folks came out of the woodwork with same tired old phrases about 'pushing LGBT ideology,' etc. This backlash caused Samsung to pull the ad. 

But, according to LGBTQNation, the attention generated by this move caused more people wanting to see the ad. And these folks defended it.

“Trusted alternative news source” Wake Up Singapore, which shared a version of the ad on their TikTok channels, reports that “the Streisand effect is in full swing”: “Due to the removal of the video, people who did not even know of the existence of these advertisements learnt about the video and its subjects.” The website claims that as of yesterday, they had “reached 80,000 users” on Instagram and “200,000 people” on Facebook about the ad’s removal, and “it is clear that the majority of people did not share the same views harboured by the conservatives that led to the removal of the videos.”

Far be it from me to be petty, but HA! HA!