Originally posted by Jasun
I'm not sure, however, wether this commercial will help much. The characters are dressed like somthing out of a Hartlequin Romance novel aimed at straight bored soccer moms(if some guy called me his "Dearest beloved", I'd probably get the hell out of there pretty quick), and although it's an open invitation to the gay community, it doesn't really show what the gay night life if like, which is more than half of the reason gay men will visit a place. Buffallo is a very liberal gay friendly city, but the gay night life sucks... therefore, not a lot of gay tourists.
Jasun, the points you make here are great, but I think it's those exact reasons why it will work. It's playing on normalcy. Come to historic Phlidelphia and see the guys in Colonial dress and take the tours. Once you get the regular tourist Philie out of the way check the rest out. That's how I see it.

Phillie has a decent night life. It's not like NY or Toronto, as far as I'm concerned - but it's not bad. But to be honest, it's not the reason I go back to a place. For me, it's how much I like the city, how much there is to see and the like.

I love Toronto, but I wouldn't need to do Younge / the village to go back. It's something to see and do, but not a reason for a return trip for me. Actually the last time I was there, we were accosted by a car load of guys ready to bash. But that's a story for another day.

I still love the place! LOL

I just hope the ad does what it set's out to do - break some marketing norms AND prove that we're a target market that is worth the trip

My best,
GA