This huge airline has released an adorable advert featuring a same-sex couple
The biggest airline in Iceland has released an adorable advert featuring a same-sex couple.
Two gay men are the stars of the ad, which will be released across all of Icelandair’s social media platforms.
But the advert doesn’t draw attention to the fact that the characters are gay, instead simply treating their relationship with a heartwarmingly matter-of-fact attitude.
The couple does everything a normal tourist couple would in Iceland: they visit the gigantic Gullfoss waterfall, a geyser and the Blue Lagoon, and watch the Northern Lights.
The two men also go horse riding, eat at a fancy restaurant and relax in a sauna, as couples in Iceland do.
Jón Skafti Kristjánsson, Icelandair’s brand manager, explained that his company’s customers are “as diverse as they are many.
“We think it’s only natural to reflect that in our marketing material and therefore aim for a marketing approach that reaches certain groups,” he added.
Kristjánsson clarified that “the group it’s aimed at is people who travel to enjoy what life has to offer with their loved ones.
“So it was an obvious choice to use a loving middle-aged couple for such an ad; it’s worked well for us in the past.
“But this time we thought: why not add to the diversity and make this loving, middle-aged couple a same-sex couple?”
He explained: “We just think it’s natural and normal for advertisement to portray diversity.
“LGBTI+ people enjoy travelling just as much as others, of course. In fact, they might have a slightly higher frequency in travelling than other groups.”
He said that Icelandair “can also show social responsibility by challenging a little the stereotypes that are so often portrayed in advertisements.”
Iceland had the first openly gay prime minister in the world, Johanna Sigurdardottir, who was in office from 2009 to 2013.
During her term, she oversaw the parliament’s vote to legalise same-sex marriage in June 2010, and was one of the first people to use the law.
In 2015, one of the main roads in Iceland’s capital city of Reykjavik was painted with a huge rainbow ahead of the city’s Pride event.
And last year, a different Icelandic airline unveiled a giant pink plane named “GAY” in honour of the gay movement.
Watch the advert below:
