Edgy Ad Featuring Romantic Same-Sex Kiss, Marriage Proposal Gets Mixed Reactions
RENO (CBS SF) -- Cue rock music. A gorgeous woman with half-shaved hair picks up an equally gorgeous blonde in her Mercedes, drives her to a romantic spot -- she kneels, a ring, she proposes, they kiss.
That's the basic storyboard for "Extraordinary Never Ordinary," a :30 commercial for a Reno jeweler that's getting praised by the LGBT community, and panned by some others.
The commercial, produced by filmmaker Bryon Evans, airs during the previews in local movie theaters, and on TV. On YouTube, the ad is branded with the hashtag: #LoveIsLove. But two women sharing a romantic kiss is too much for certain viewers.
Britten Wolf, owner of BVW Jewelers was surprised when some women complained after seeing the ad during the Ellen DeGeneres show. After all, DeGeneres is openly gay.
"I love our state but you don't know how that's going to hit people here," he told the Reno Gazette Journal. "Being a small business, it takes a few people here and there and you could have some adverse effects."
Wolf worries his company could get blacklisted from industry events. He says he's gotten some positive feedback, too. Same-sex couples appreciate knowing which local businesses support gay marriages.
"I think that's so appealing to support a business that is supportive of marriage equality and LGBT communities," said Jeromy Manke, of Build Our Center, a Nevada-based group that advocates for LGBT acceptance and awareness.
Manke told the Reno-Gazette he and his husband grappled with that very issue when searching for vendors for their wedding.
"It's encouraging to see local businesses specifically targeting the community," said Manke. "Especially with the long fight it took us to secure marriage equality across the nation."
More and more companies are targeting the LGBT community, which until recently was largely ignored by mainstream corporate advertisers. After last year's historic Supreme Court decision legalizing same-sex marriage, yogurt maker Chobani positioned itself in the vanguard of same-sex commercials when it released a steamy ad featuring a lesbian couple in bed.
Still, the conservative right-wing has not taken kindly to these ads. Televangelist Franklin Graham made a public show of closing his account after Wells Fargo featured a lesbian couple in a commercial.
CBSSF.com writer, producer Jan Mabry is also executive producer and host of The Bronze Report. She lives in Northern California. Follow her on Twitter @janmabr.