Venerable Jeweler Tiffany & Co. Features Ad Campaign With Same-Sex Couple
As same-sex marriage gains more acceptance, both legally and culturally, iconic jeweler Tiffany & Co. is getting on board with the idea with a new ad campaign featuring a same-sex couple, Elle is reporting.
“Will you promise to never stop completing my sentences or singing off-key, which I’m afraid you do often? And will you let today be the first long sentence of a story that never ends?”
In a statement via Elle, Tiffany & Co. VP of North American PR Linda Buckley explains the idea behind the ad campaign.
“Nowadays, the road to marriage is no longer linear, and true love can happen more than once with love stories coming in a variety of forms. The Tiffany engagement ring is the first sentence of the story that a couple will write together as they create a life that is deeply intimate and exceptional, which is the message we hope to convey through this campaign.”
According to StyleCaster writer Perrie Samotin, the ad campaign, entitled “Will You,” makes sense not just culturally, but financially.
“[The same-sex ad campaign] honors the idea that love transcends age, race and gender—a sentiment most of us can surely get behind. Although it shouldn’t even be an issue, it’s obviously important—both socially and financially—for brands to diversify their target consumers, and paying attention to the LGBTQ community is key.”
In an apparent not to the word “true” in the phrase “true love,” the two men featured in the ad aren’t actors or models, but are a real same-sex couple living in New York. Tiffany declined to reveal their names.
Although the “Will You?” ad campaign is Tiffany & Co.’s first-ever campaign aimed directly at same-sex couples, it is not the first time they have honored same-sex relationships. This most recent Christmas, the Tiffany & Co. flagship Fifth Avenue store in New York, famed for its elaborate holiday window displays, featured a same-sex couple in its annual Christmas tableau, according to Out.
As more and more ad agencies begin to include gay families in their advertising, the companies behind those ads often find themselves facing backlash from social conservatives who aren’t on board with the idea. Last November, according to this Inquisitr report, the Kellogg Company found itself threatened with boycotts from conservative Christian groups for featuring Tony the Tiger in a gay pride campaign.
Do you think the new Tiffany & Co. ad with a same-sex couple is cute? Offensive? Neither? Share your thoughts in the comments below.
[Images courtesy of: Elle, Fashionista, Out]