Procter & Gamble Co., Bed Clothes

With a hastily removed pile of clothes and shoes on the floor, in front of a bed that appears to contain two men (in fuzzy focus), the headline reads: "You were more concerned with taking them off than folding them up."

Below the picture, next to a wrinkled shirt, the text reads, "Your shirt after 5 hours of dancing and 4 martinis."

The next page reads, "It's 10:00 a.m. Saturday morning. You're meeting friends for brunch in an hour. And your khakis -- which spent the night crumpled on the floor -- are looking a little too 'casual' .... Now for the good news."

The ad -- the first gay-targeted effort from P&G Canada -- ran just in Toronto gay newspaper Xtra.

According to former Downy brand manager Jeff Straker, "We launched that product targeted partially to gay men and their finicky clothing habits. The ads were focus group tested with GLBs and were thought to be rather breakthrough since they were clearly created for GLBs (not crossover advertising). We realized that to cut through the clutter and hold attention to the copy intensive ad we had to have a visual that was compelling - and this tested really well in that respect. It was somewhat controversial at the time since it was a first for P&G, however I was able to get all the managers above me to approve it and away we went. It was published in gay publications in Canada only. It's interesting that this ad I did a few years ago, which raised no neck hairs then, is apparently controversial now. I find it hilarious that the AFA has interpretted the ad out of context and has managed to create such a reaction."

Four years after its appearance, this ad was targeted by the Mississippi-based anti-gay organization American Family Association late September 2004, in a boycott aimed at Procter & Gamble Co. The AFA's timing was linked to P&G's support of an effort to repeal a law in its home city of Cincinnati preventing any protections of the gay population. P&G held its ground, and has given $10,000 to help repeal the 1993 city charter amendment forbidding Cincinnati to enact or enforce laws based on sexual orientation. P&G said it believes the amendment makes it harder to attract visitors and potential employees to Cincinnati and that it subjects gay people to potential discrimination in workplaces and housing.

Federated Department Stores., also a Cincinnati-based corporation that owns the Macy's and Bloomingdale's stores, itself has given $20,000 in support of the campaign.

The amendment, upheld on appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court in 1998, denies special legal protections to gays and lesbians. Sixty-two percent of Cincinnati's voters approved the amendment in 1993.