IKEA, the world's largest furniture
retailer, included a gay couple in its latest ad campaign.
The interracial male gay couple appear
laying on a sofa in a print ad for a cabinet. Next to them is a flag
that reads “All homes are created equal.”
The ad is part of a broader theme about
the American dream, which IKEA argues has become more diverse.
“The idea of asking where did the
American dream go was not to show that it went away, but that people
are living it every day in diverse ways,” Leslie Stone, who helped
shape the campaign, told Adweek.
“There are so many different ways
that Americans live – multigenerational, gay parents, etc. – that
define the real portrait of the America that's really out there. If
we'd put across 20 different living situations, they'd all be equally
powerful,” Stone
added.
According to Adweek, IKEA first
included a gay couple in a 1994 television ad.