• by Les Luchter , June 1, 2023

Visible Wireless, the Verizon-owned prepaid D2C service, has kicked off Pride Month with “No Straight Answers,” a six-minute game show parody from the Madwell agency.

Pitting TikTok’s popular The Old Gays (10.9 million followers) against The Young Slays, a newly formed group of Gen Z influencers, the video has debuted on YouTube, TikTok and Instagram.

Each team gets to answer questions about the other team’s generation, such as The Old Gays getting asked to name seven pronouns -- and The Young Slays, when the Rainbow flag first appeared.

Benito Skinner, a comedian, actor and social media star, hosts the ‘70s-style game show as “Brock Stockton” rather than his well-known influencer name, Benny Drama.

The show itself offers no drama but strives for lots of laughs, and Visible is quite serious about its intentions.

“No Straight Answers,” the brand says, aims to celebrate “the elders who helped pave the way for Pride to become what it is today” while educating and raising awareness of LGBTQ+ history in the 1970s, the decade Pride celebrations (and yes, the Rainbow flag) began. The latter task is “specifically for younger generations (like that of Visible's) who might not know the history.”

A pop-up balloon early in the video reveals another aspect of Visible’s month-long campaign: “Visible Wireless is Partnering with SAGE to connect LGBT+ generations.”

In addition to its tie-in with the campaign, SAGE, a nonprofit that provides “advocacy and services for LGBTQ+ elders,” is receiving a $50,000 donation from Visible.

“It doesn't get much better than bringing all the generations together in a game show format everyone loves, with some great talent, and fun learnings that embody the essence of Pride and raises awareness for a community often overlooked,” stated Cheryl Gresham, chief marketing officer/vice president, of Verizon Value, which was formed in November to oversee all of Verizon’s prepaid plans like Visible Tracfone and Straight Talk.