Cadillac, It's OK to say "gay"....

This news story popped up in my Google Desktop Sidebar. What I thought interesting, apartment from being a Cadillac lover myself (my dream car being the 2009 Cadillac CTS-V--I mean, just take a look at the specs on that baby, and the baby itself (to the left!) ... too bad we all know I can barely afford a 1985 Yugo at this point in my life) was a statement made by Clay Dean, who is employed by General Motors as the global design director for the entire Cadillac division. In fact, there was one statement that he made, in particular, which caught my attention and serves as the reason for this particular blog posting.

You see, Mr. Dean still thinks he has to use code-speak in order to deliver a message; he doesn't give the average consumer or--in this case--the gay consumer enough credit to know that he's talking about us.

Here's the statement that caught my attention:

"For GM, it's our most aggressive brand," said Clay Dean, GM's global director for Cadillac design. "We want to appeal to people that set the trends."

Now you basically have to have been living in a cave to not know that GM's Cadillac division has undergone a complete transformation, which started approximately 10 years ago. Their cars are sleek, well-designed, well-functioning machines that look just as good on a person as a $5,000 Armani Collezioni Black Label suit.

But getting back to Mr. Dean's statement about appealing to people who "set the trends." We all know that this is advertising industry code-speak for "gays and lesbians." If you don't believe me, just ask Project Runway Season 4 winner Christian Siriano or--better yet--Google.

So apart from using bad grammar in his statement, this leads me to ask the following question:

Dear Mr. Dean, why are you so afraid to just come out (no pun intended--or is there?) and say the words, "Cadillac wants to appeal to the gay market because we know that the LGBT population is a consumer powerhouse and leader in setting trends."

It can't be that you're in the middle of America--you know, the great nation under which everyone is created unequal in the eyes of the law, is it? Forget the fact that, on the federal level alone, there exist one-thousand one hundred and thirty eight (1,138) laws, rules, regulations, and codes differentiating straight and same-sex couples. Speaking of which, that gives me a great idea for a song, and I'm going to have to consult with my friend John Raymond Barker about this ....

So please, will the real Mr. Clay Dean who works as "Global Director for Cadillac design" please stand up and just say what he means instead of resorting to the use of industry code-speak? It's OK to say gay--really, it is, and you might just get what you're looking for by coming right out and saying it, instead of pandering. I mean, who do you think you're fooling, anyway?