Never.

The idea first popped up when I stumbled upon and applied for WK12, Wieden+Kennedy’s “experimental” internship program. I didn’t get in.

That was back in ’04, and I should’ve realized the match earlier, because I was obsessed with commercials and billboards as a kid. The socioeconomic delta between my neighborhood and my friends’ cranked up the contrast on the beer and luxury car dominated, predatory campaigns.

Wearing the heads down on my VCR with repeated rewinding of commercials, it didn’t take me long to identify what, in my head, I call the “Majority of Minorites” rule:

Unless attempting to market specifically to a minority, fewer than half of the members of any marketing piece will belong to said minority.

…

Hm.

…

So…I started writing this post about Next Day Air (can’t wait to see it) and The Matrix: Revolutions being extremely rare exceptions to the rule, but I’m calling an audible because I just remembered something.

A few days ago @hyams posted a tweet about a gay couple in a commercial. I just took the time to track it down and it’s terribly interesting.

Granted, this commercial isn’t an exception to the Majority rule, but its rampant ambiguity is fascinating. Is the “couple” gay? Are they targeting the Gay community? Is the rainbow pattern on his shirt a clue? Is never seeing a clear shot of either man’s ring finger on their left hand a coincidence?

Does the rule apply if you’re not sure if the subjects are members?

Have a look for yourself, and be sure to check out the conversation on YouTube and Twitter as well.