Gay-themed ads: The good, the bad, and the WTF?

I understand that the point of the spot is that it contradicts itself several times  (as I indicated above) and I love that aspect of the commercial and I thought it was sweet and lovely.

I don't think the statement about "black and white" ruined it at all.

But obviously it rubbed folks the wrong way here, in this context.

It don't think its a question of the author above not "thinking" about it but it is more about frame of reference.

US and other viewers  here on A.E. did not get the implication you've indicated and that's why I asked if anyone had actually spoken to Guiness to get a better understanding of the intent of the piece.

Not everone was clear about the meaning (despite how carefully you've articulated it) and the "black and white"  phrase created the most discomfort so the commercial obviously doesn't work for every audience.

For better or for worse folks didn't immediately get the many layers of meaning you've ascribed to the commercial which I think speaks to my question about cultural context. 

I think some commercials just immediately make more sense (or convey a particular meaning) to folks in a particular cultural context and are less clear when viewerd by folks outside of that cultural context.

The point of my initial post was about giving the benefit of the doubt to the commercial because I felt and still feel that assuming the statement was meant to be homobobic doesn't really make sense given the overall message of the commercial.

"Heterosexuality is not normal, it's just common." (Dorothy Parker)

I actually saw it differently, though no less positive. Still riffing on the "Guinness is black and white" bit, which I admittedly did get, I saw the "not everything in black in white" to refer to things in print, sometimes taken as nigh-gospel. (Even when it's He Who Must Not Be Named Here!) I see the whole thing being in black-and-white as something of a tribute/throwback to Diana Dors's earlier movies, as would (I suppose) the blond househusband, but that part has nothing to do with "making sense". The men/women quote itself--obviously in print at one point--doesn't necessarily make sense, and is shown to make less sense with two very different men.

The commercial as a whole might have been more approachable to US audiences if (a) we knew the Guinness-black/white connection (though the commerical itself helps that, with the pint at the end), and (b) we knew who Diana Dors was (for ignoring the black-and-white of the commercial itself as part of the "makes sense" bit). Think Jayne Mansfield or Marilyn Monroe, really.  Though at this point, I dunno how many people in the UK know who Diana Dors was....

Anyway, I saw the "black and white" that didn't "make sense" to be things appearing in print, the famous "black and white and re(a)d all over." Guinness, on the other hand, makes perfect sense. :)

Gar vethed e-chunen; go hon bedithon na meth.