As far as Cartier is concerned, it’s just people in love

In a year that’s brought gay faces, issues and sensibilities to the fore, ripples were inevitable, and one has gently moved Cartier, the high-end watchmaker and jeweler, into the shifting discussion. The company is running a series of ads in fashion magazines featuring Melissa Etheridge and Tammy Lynn Michaels, who endorse Cartier’s Menotte handcuff bracelets as recognition of their commitment ceremony last summer.

“The theme of this particular ad campaign is people in love, all facets of love: couples, mother and daughter, fashion, music,” says Stanislas de Quercize, Cartier’s president and CEO. “We approached Melissa Etheridge and Tammy Lynn Michaels because they are passionate about who they are and what they do -- and most importantly, a great example of a devoted and committed couple.” Love, not alternative lifestyle, De Quercize says, was the deciding factor.

One advertising watcher believes the presence of Michaels and Etheridge in the campaign is unique but also an emulation of society. “There’s kind of a mainstreaming of gay ads -- it’s like the culture in general,” says Mercedes Cardona, a financial editor with Advertising Age magazine. “It’s not an overwhelming trend. Just recently we saw Orbitz, the [travel] Web site, do an ad that had a same-sex angle where a guy is checking out another guy by the pool.”

But Cartier’s strategy is still somewhat daring, Cardona says. “It’s not an advertising slam dunk, like if you put in babies and puppies. This is still a very controversial issue in some quarters. You won’t be finding many mainstream companies doing this. I don’t think we’ll see a Wal-Mart ad with a gay couple walking through the aisles.”

-- Michael T. Jarvis