--- title: Kim Davis: New Tide To Go Ad Takes Aim at Gay Marriage Debate description: Ad takes aim at gay marriage debate and those who want to stop it canonical: https://time.com/4034600/tide-to-go-ad-gay-marriage/ author: Melissa Locker article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-09-15T14:11:10.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T07:48:08.052Z og:title: Kim Davis: New Tide To Go Ad Takes Aim at Gay Marriage Debate og:description: Ad takes aim at gay marriage debate and those who want to stop it og:url: https://time.com/4034600/tide-to-go-ad-gay-marriage/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: TIME og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Kim Davis: New Tide To Go Ad Takes Aim at Gay Marriage Debate twitter:description: Ad takes aim at gay marriage debate and those who want to stop it twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- # Watch the Wonderful New Tide To Go Ad That Takes On the Gay Marriage Debate > Sponsored content. 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It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, twice a week. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3/newsletters?i=d6946785-ff6a-4230-9027-b0072ba4daa7&cr=time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3-v1) ## Video: Know Right Now: Kentucky Clerk Released from Jail [Watch (HLS stream): Know Right Now: Kentucky Clerk Released from Jail](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/Im7HGSAk.m3u8) (1:01)  _Published 2015-09-01. A federal judge lifted Kentucky clerk Kim Davis’ contempt order and released her from jail_ by [Melissa Locker](https://time.com/author/melissa-locker/) ## Melissa Locker Sep 15, 2015 2:11 PM UTC by [Melissa Locker](https://time.com/author/melissa-locker/) ## Melissa Locker Sep 15, 2015 2:11 PM UTC Tide To Go is poised to enter the gay marriage debate with a new tongue-in-cheek ad. Director Mark Nickelsburg posted the commercial to [his Facebook page](https://www.facebook.com/abaloon/videos/878899625537283/?fref=nf), and while the ad hasn’t hit the air yet (and it’s unclear whether it actually will) it’s already generating a lot of buzz. In the commercial, two men head to the altar, but are stopped on the church steps by a serious looking woman determined to make sure they don’t “blemish the sanctity of marriage!” As the couple winds up for a massive argument, the woman pulls out a Tide To Go pen and removes a stain from the shirt of one of the grooms. When the stain is gone, the men receive the blessing of the woman, played by _Pee Wee’s Playhouse_ actress Lynne Marie Stewart a.k.a. Miss Yvonne, the most beautiful woman in the world. The ad is certainly timely. In his Facebook post Nicklesburg references Kim Davis, the clerk who was jailed after refusing to authorize marriage licenses to same-sex couples. He noted, “First a clerk in Kentucky, and now a church lady in Los Angeles! This same-sex couple faces yet another obstacle on the way to marriage equality in this spot I directed for Tide to Go.” This isn’t the first time Tide has featured a gay couple in one of their commercials. An ad that aired in Canada featured a gay couple [arguing about laundry](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oSSNQv%5FnPTE). Tide’s parent company, Procter & Gamble, has prominently stated their support of marriage equality, using their official Twitter account [to promote the cause](https://twitter.com/ProcterGamble/status/614443021606633472) and noting that [“labels are for products, not people.”](https://twitter.com/ProcterGamble/status/615675137371865088) \[H/T [NewNowNext](http://www.newnownext.com/the-anti-gay-bigots-are-going-to-lose-their-sht-over-this-new-tide-commercial/09/2015/)\] ## Transcript [00:49] [ MUSIC ] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4034600/tide-to-go-ad-gay-marriage/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4034600/tide-to-go-ad-gay-marriage/"},"headline":"Watch the Wonderful New Tide To Go Ad That Takes On the Gay Marriage Debate","datePublished":"2015-09-15T14:11:10.000Z","dateModified":"2026-08-04T07:48:08.052Z","description":"It's the perfect antidote to Kim Davis","url":"https://time.com/4034600/tide-to-go-ad-gay-marriage/","keywords":["Newsfeed","Gay Marriage","viral","Business topic","Advertisement","commercial"],"thumbnailUrl":"","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Melissa Locker","jobTitle":"","url":"https://time.com/author/melissa-locker/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/tag/time-section-newsfeed/","name":"Newsfeed"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4034600/tide-to-go-ad-gay-marriage/","name":"Watch the Wonderful New Tide To Go Ad That Takes On the Gay Marriage Debate"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Know Right Now: Kentucky Clerk Released from Jail","description":"A federal judge lifted Kentucky clerk Kim Davis’ contempt order and released her from jail","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/Im7HGSAk/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2015-09-01T18:45:15.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/Im7HGSAk.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/4034600/tide-to-go-ad-gay-marriage/","duration":"PT1M1S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/4034600/tide-to-go-ad-gay-marriage/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```