Marketers Slow To Deploy Ads Featuring Gay Couples

ST. PAUL (AP) - Even as gay marriage becomes legal in more places, corporate America has been slower to feature gay couples in their advertising plans.

While companies in Minnesota and elsewhere cater to lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender customers, their efforts to court their business are not as obvious to the general public. Those marketing campaigns tend to be more over social media than a mass market medium like television.

Same-sex marriage is legal in Minnesota and 11 other states.

Some businesses are starting to change their approach. U Care, a nonprofit Minnesota health plan, recently started putting ads on city buses featuring a lesbian couple holding hands and sending a message about the importance of health insurance.