# "Gathering Storm" - Awful anti-gay marriage commercial **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 17, 2009, 4:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gathering-storm-awful-anti-gay-marriage-commercial/493385 "2009-04-17T04:22:22Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Rodgers01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b19c9b/32.png) [@Rodgers01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rodgers01)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2009, 4:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gathering-storm-awful-anti-gay-marriage-commercial/493385/1 "2009-04-17T04:22:22Z")
Anyone else seen this [ad](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wp76ly2_NoI)? [Andrew Sullivan](http://andrewsullivan.theatlantic.com/) posted a [parody](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L0pPEAdDn64) of it, and I decided to look up the original - which was almost impossible to find, there were so many parodies of it floating around. It’s an ad against same-sex marriage by a group called the National Organization for Marriage. It is also the most hilariously bad national commercial I’ve seen in years. Bad, bad, bad. Bad in music, script, acting, examples, message, everything. Do they actually expect to convince people with this thing? I don’t mean to start a discussion of gay marriage (there’s a 900+ post in GD about that right now), but really just the awesome badness of this spot. Has anyone actually seen this on live TV? ---
**Author:** ![Snarky\_Kong](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a183cd/32.png) [@Snarky\_Kong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snarky_Kong)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2009, 4:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gathering-storm-awful-anti-gay-marriage-commercial/493385/2 "2009-04-17T04:30:57Z")
It was shown on the Colbert Report. His parody was hilarious. ---
**Author:** ![DMC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dmc/32/18049_2.png) [@DMC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DMC)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2009, 4:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gathering-storm-awful-anti-gay-marriage-commercial/493385/3 "2009-04-17T04:38:08Z")
What’s the over/under on the number of closeted gays in the original ad? I’m thinking three. ---
**Author:** ![Rodgers01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b19c9b/32.png) [@Rodgers01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rodgers01)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2009, 4:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gathering-storm-awful-anti-gay-marriage-commercial/493385/4 "2009-04-17T04:42:13Z")
> [@Snarky\_Kong](#): > > It was shown on the Colbert Report. His parody was hilarious. Ahh, I’d love to see that but can’t find it on his site! ☹ [QUOTE=DMC] What’s the over/under on the number of closeted gays in the original ad? I’m thinking three. [/QUOTE] At least. ---
**Author:** ![Flip\_Pancake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/f1d935/32.png) [@Flip\_Pancake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Flip_Pancake)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2009, 4:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gathering-storm-awful-anti-gay-marriage-commercial/493385/5 "2009-04-17T04:43:58Z")
A “rainbow coalition”? Really? ETA: [HRC on the video, and audition tapes](http://thinkprogress.org/2009/04/09/gathering-storm-auditions/) ---
**Author:** ![Flip\_Pancake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/f1d935/32.png) [@Flip\_Pancake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Flip_Pancake)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2009, 4:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gathering-storm-awful-anti-gay-marriage-commercial/493385/6 "2009-04-17T04:56:40Z")
Whoops, it appears the audition tapes aren’t on the HRC site anymore. Here’s a [YouTube link to Rachel Maddow’s take on the tapes](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x7NQ3QUP0Dc). ---
**Author:** ![Hail\_Ants](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/dc4da7/32.png) [@Hail\_Ants](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hail_Ants)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2009, 5:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gathering-storm-awful-anti-gay-marriage-commercial/493385/7 "2009-04-17T05:01:19Z")
I’m disappointed, it wasn’t that bad. Other than its political message the ad’s production values were fine. > [@](#): > > Do they actually expect to convince people with this thing? I can see it persuading **lots** of people… ---
**Author:** ![mobo85](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b19c9b/32.png) [@mobo85](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mobo85)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2009, 1:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gathering-storm-awful-anti-gay-marriage-commercial/493385/8 "2009-04-17T13:20:31Z")
[Here’s Colbert’s take on it along with his parody](http://www.colbertnation.com/the-colbert-report-videos/224789/april-16-2009/the-colbert-coalition-s-anti-gay-marriage-ad). I’m surprised he didn’t make a joke about the “rainbow coalition” line. ---
**Author:** ![Anaamika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Anaamika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaamika)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2009, 1:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gathering-storm-awful-anti-gay-marriage-commercial/493385/9 "2009-04-17T13:33:06Z")
The message is badly depicted, too. Some sort of vague terror, coming to eat our people…? And the doctor/pharmacist (I can’t remember and I won’t watch again) really pissed me off, because I definitely believe if you can’t serve everybody in the health field, GTFO. I wanted to bitch about this, too. Thanks for starting the thread. ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2009, 1:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gathering-storm-awful-anti-gay-marriage-commercial/493385/10 "2009-04-17T13:34:43Z")
> [@Anaamika](#): > > Some sort of vague terror, coming to eat our people…? Of course: after all, this is NOM! ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2009, 1:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gathering-storm-awful-anti-gay-marriage-commercial/493385/11 "2009-04-17T13:46:10Z")
> [@Rodgers01](#): > > Do they actually expect to convince people with this thing? No, they expect to scare people who are already scared into signing petitions or giving them money. Perhaps with enough funds they could make something that didn’t look like a quiet storm video. “Oh no, the homo-storm got me!” ---
**Author:** ![Anaamika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Anaamika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaamika)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2009, 2:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gathering-storm-awful-anti-gay-marriage-commercial/493385/12 "2009-04-17T14:06:32Z")
> [@Ludovic](#): > > Of course: after all, this is NOM! Yes, but they are afraid of the unholy terror eating THEM. Marley! I laughed out loud. Homo-storm, indeed. ---
**Author:** ![rivulus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/839c29/32.png) [@rivulus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rivulus)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2009, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gathering-storm-awful-anti-gay-marriage-commercial/493385/13 "2009-04-17T19:13:07Z")
I see a new t-shirt in my wardrobe. A Gathering Storm, indeed. ---
**Author:** ![apollonia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/2bfe46/32.png) [@apollonia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/apollonia)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2009, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gathering-storm-awful-anti-gay-marriage-commercial/493385/14 "2009-04-17T20:05:28Z")
I can’t believe one person on the entire production of this spot actually thought “hey, ‘Rainbow Coalition,’ that sounds neat, right? And everybody likes rainbows–good associations there!” and no one stopped them. Really. Their [website](http://www.nationformarriage.org/site/c.omL2KeN0LzH/b.3836955/k.BEC6/Home.htm) is good for laughs, actually. I do like the blog headline “Iowa Supreme Court Imposes Same-Sex Marriage.” I think I missed the part where crazed Iowa judges dragged innocent folks out of their homes and married them to the nearest same-sex person they could find, willy-nilly. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2009, 8:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gathering-storm-awful-anti-gay-marriage-commercial/493385/15 "2009-04-17T20:27:14Z")
> [@apollonia](#): > > I can’t believe one person on the entire production of this spot actually thought “hey, ‘Rainbow Coalition,’ that sounds neat, right? And everybody likes rainbows–good associations there!” and no one stopped them. Really. I suspect they’re trying to “reclaim” rainbows. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Devil\_s\_Grandmother](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/74df32/32.png) [@The\_Devil\_s\_Grandmother](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Devil_s_Grandmother)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2009, 8:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gathering-storm-awful-anti-gay-marriage-commercial/493385/16 "2009-04-17T20:27:43Z")
> [@apollonia](#): > > I can’t believe one person on the entire production of this spot actually thought “hey, ‘Rainbow Coalition,’ that sounds neat, right? And everybody likes rainbows–good associations there!” and no one stopped them. Really. Well, even bad actors and movie techs need to eat, and I can totally imagine some technician on the set thinking “Damn, should I say something? Better not, they might fire me for being gay”. I can also imagine the intent was rainbow=promise of God not to destroy the world with water (again). The line about “coming together in love” is a very common phrase in evangelical Christian churches. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2009, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gathering-storm-awful-anti-gay-marriage-commercial/493385/17 "2009-04-17T20:28:42Z")
> [@rivulus](#): > > A Gathering Storm, indeed. Rainbow coalition, huh? Could it be a… grand alliance? ---
**Author:** ![Kolga](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e56c9b/32.png) [@Kolga](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kolga)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2009, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gathering-storm-awful-anti-gay-marriage-commercial/493385/18 "2009-04-17T20:37:20Z")
> [@apollonia](#): > > I think I missed the part where crazed Iowa judges dragged innocent folks out of their homes and married them to the nearest same-sex person they could find, willy-nilly. That comes next. They’ve gotta order in the rainbow handcuffs to lock the people together in their forced same-sex marriageness. ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2009, 9:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gathering-storm-awful-anti-gay-marriage-commercial/493385/19 "2009-04-17T21:18:43Z")
> [@apollonia](#): > > I do like the blog headline “Iowa Supreme Court Imposes Same-Sex Marriage.” I think I missed the part where crazed Iowa judges dragged innocent folks out of their homes and married them to the nearest same-sex person they could find, willy-nilly. That was the California doctor from the ad. She had to choose between her medical practice and her faith when she passed through Iowa en route to do tornado relief and was told she could only practice medicine if she married “Butchy Barb” the Corn Queen. When she returned Butchy Barb followed her and now is legally entitled to half her practice, and it happens everyday. Hmm… how on earth did HRC get those audition tapes? Evidently there are gays in the entertainment industry somewhere. (I wonder if any of the actors were gay; one certainly sounds it.) ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2009, 9:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gathering-storm-awful-anti-gay-marriage-commercial/493385/20 "2009-04-17T21:21:54Z")
The [diva parody](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zaT5qyVQnBY) is good too. And [this one](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0mQVT2SC3M0&feature=related). [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gathering-storm-awful-anti-gay-marriage-commercial/493385.md?page=2)