TV Commercial for Amazon's Kindle Delights With Surprise Gay Twist

Occasionally, while watching a show I recorded on my DVR, I forget it's been recorded and I sit through the commercials.  This happened to me last week while I was watching Modern Family.  Happily, because of my obliviousness, I saw a great ad (in 2013). 

 

 

The commercial opens with a man and woman sitting at a beach resort, both reading their e-books.  The man engages her after noticing that she is having a much easier time reading her device in the bright sunshine than he is.  It turns out she has the new Kindle Paperwhite.  When he makes a somewhat flirtatious comment, the woman nicely informs him that her husband is at the bar getting her a drink.  The fellow then replies that his husband, too, is at the bar.  Cut to a shot of the two husbands standing side-by-side at the bar, looking back and waving at their respective spouses (I'm not certain, but I think the gay hubby is on the left).  

What made seeing this even better was the fact that I watched it without having heard or read about it, so it was truly a delightful surprise.  And it was appropriate that it aired during Modern Family.

This ad aired nearly 20 years after Ikea caused a stir with perhaps the first ad with a gay angle, depicting a male couple shopping for furniture.  Since then, there have also been notable ads from Toyota, Levis and Orbitz; however, the majority of gay ads have been produced for European television.  (Click here to view AdWeek's 50 Gayest Ads Ever.) 

 

Comments

[tg]

Never saw this commercial myself. And even though you gave a play-by-play Rob, I still smiled and got a little choked up after watching it. So nice! Thanks for posting it!

[Rob]

Hi Tom, I'm glad you enjoyed it as much as I did. I found it interesting that I was actually watching this commercial even though I'm not in the market for a Kindle. Perhaps the advertising research is right after all, i.e., viewers are in a receptive mood when they're watching a show they enjoy.

[Dennis McGuire]

The fact that it seamlessly aired on network TV with no big noise is a hallmark of gay progress!