American Airlines Looks Back For New Gay Ads

American Airlines finally decided to jump on the gay marketing train.

While competitors have courted the queers for years, American Airlines has preferred sponsoring gay friendly events. Their new nostalgic ad campaign changes all that:

Recalling when travel was considered glamorous, new print ads in The Advocate and online look like vintage, 50s-era illustrated posters, but with the twist of two carefree men stepping off the plane together. The tagline is “Fly forward” and was created by American’s longtime ad agency, TM Advertising, of Dallas, and Washington, D.C.-based gay marketing firm Witeck-Combs Communications.

“There’s a sameness to travel ads, the same faces and couples in stock photography, we thought we’d like to try something more imaginative,” explains American Airlines spokesman Tim Kincaid.

The ads sure are imaginative: what gay man wears Hawaiian shirts? Not to mention socks with loafers…