Gebrüder Mey GmbH & Co. KG, Couple

The text translates to: "Everybody wants an ever-lasting relationship. Mey already has it."

There is a word play here. "Everlasting relationship" comes from the German word "bund" (which relates to "bond" in English) and also means "waist band" -- as with underwear.

Mey has been using current issues in ads for years. This ad featuring a male couple on a couch with their arms around each other ran in Germany's largest circulating magazines, including Focus, Der Spiegel and Stern. The company is located in a more traditional, conservative and rural part of the country, in the
Southwest .

German gay market consultant and ad columnist Michael Stuber, who publishes Rosa Brille wrote this about the ad: "It was about time to finally see the first aesthetic, intelligent and unpretentious commercial about gay marriage. The clean, two-page spread of underwear-maker Mey does stand out in the colorful context of Focus magazine. It’s remarkable that this campaign was not launched by any of the cult brands that usually match the gay taste. It’s a textile company from conservative Swabia, whose move was also applauded by marketing specialists. May this elastic be frequently visible from underneath trendy trousers."