Tivol's gay vague ads: everything's more up to date in Kansas City than you might think

Joyce Smith, of the Kansas City Star, reports that Tivol, the century-old, veddy upscale KC jeweler, coyly says through its director of marketing, Adam Gebhardt, that its Tivol and Tommorows ads, put on the web, KC magazines and billboards, aren't "political" and that it's up to viewers to decide the message.

Don't expect inclusive ads like Tivol's here in Omaha at Borsheims, where Bill Gates bought Melinda her rock. It's owned by Warren Buffet who, if his GEICO treatment of gay people is any indication, would prefer to ignore or insult them than to wink at them, the way Progressive does on TV and the web. Photo: TEDizen via Flickr.

Where has AKSARBENT heard that before? Could Gebhardt be channeling VW, which said roughly the same thing when it premiered its same-sex "Sunday Afternoon" Golf ad during the coming out episode of Ellen in 1997?



Although a surprising number of car ads have been out-and-out gay (well, in Europe, anyway; see below) VW remains the king, queen and royal family of gay vague advertising. Take this "Big Day" Jetta ad, run in 2006, featuring the actor who is now 1/2 of the gay couple on Wisteria Lane in Desperate Housewives:



AKSARBENT prefers Renault's ads, if not its vehicles. In a Renault ad, there is actually a possibility of a boy getting laid; unlike the uptight Germans, the French don't give a shit who knows it.



Here's another example of Renault laughing at boundaries, although AKSARBENT thinks they should have named the car "Twinko," not "Twingo."