I don’t think of knitting as a gay stereotype.
I think of two dudes sitting close enough that their elbows touch on a large couch and with their legs crossed at the knees* as gay stereotypes.
Definitely pings my gaydar.
*Why is this an unmanly way to sit, anyway?
The most offensive thing to me is the horrible faux-knitting. They didn’t have anyone in the production team that knitted or couldn’t spare 5 minutes to watch a how-to video?
No gay vibe. First of all, as an over-the-top commercial, as this is supposed to be, it would require over-the-top references to gay people to have even a chance of being effective. Ad companies with high paying clientele don’t make mistakes like that. Even a middle school video club could shoot a more effective over-the-top gay scene.
I don’t think there’s any doubt that they were going for humor, but a particular type of humor: cartoonish to the point of surreal.
Male knitters were chosen, I believe, because knitting is not normally considered a male activity, particularly with those types of males (they look more like beer drinking sports fans with a little bit of hipster thrown in). If two obviously gay males were portrayed, that would not be funny (because it’s kind of a low grade gay meme anyway). So, the viewer is hit with an attention-getting image from the start: two unlikely knitters knitting. That’s funny.
The yarn, needles, and holding of the yarn are all cartoonishly out of proportion. This wasn’t a mistake. It adds to the humor.
However, even with the cartoonish out of proportion instruments, if the knitter looked like he knew how to knit (actually succeeded in making a stitch), that would not have been funny—and remember, humor is the goal in this commercial.
Likewise, if the knitter was a complete failure at knitting (can’t throw a stitch, and therefore can’t complete even one row), that would be a little funny, but not much. It just shows that he and his friend are idiots and losers. That’s more sad than funny.
But, we see a guy who can’t throw a stitch and yet was able to complete at least a foot square of completed knitting (that we, the viewer were not privy to have seen be made). How did he do that? He’s successfully knitting, yet he can’t even throw a stitch.
It’s a cartoon, it’s surreal, it’s funny and I think it’s successfully executed.
It’s not unlike the Sonic commercials, who used idiots instead of beer-swigging hipster knitters. The Sonic characters are cartoonishly idiotic to the point of surrealism. If they were just normal idiots, that wouldn’t be funny at all.
You may not like these types of commercials, but they must work on a significant percent of the viewing public.
Thanks for taking one for the team–based on your post I skipped watching it. 
+10 points for a Demolition Man reference
It squeezes your balls. Not in a good way.
Because men typically cross their ankles. While crossing knees is relatively difficult for men, it is easier for a woman due to her wider hips.
Ankles? I thought ankle on knee was the typical male cross leg position. I cross at the knees. It feels most natural to me.
I sit with my legs crossed at the knees and a woman’s legs wrapped around my hips, because I’m a manly man.
I didn’t get any gay vibe from the commercial at all, and the only thing offensive was all the above-mentioned things about the clueless knitting/yarn-holding. The whole time I was thinking, "how did he manage to knit the first twenty rows of that scarf?’ and “that yarn is interesting but why is he holding it?” As for the Mitt Romney remark, I thought it was put in just because his name rhymes with Knit, and a famous politician isn’t going to be a spokesman for a lame yarn shop run by two clueless idiots.
Count me in as another who is bothered by the fake-ass knitting. It would be one thing if they were two novices who were just enjoying their first attempt at a scarf. But no. We’re supposed to believe they are professionals who are interested in opening their own store.
Late to the party, but I side with the OP. I caught a whiff of a gay vibe. Actually, I caught a meta-vibe. I thought the creators were trying to make a gay couple, and failing, because they’d never seen one in their lives. Whatever they were trying for, they failed. Was it supposed to be good knitters? Fail. Was it supposed to be hilariously bad knitters? Fail, because he obviously made something.
And I’ve already forgotten the name of the company being advertised. Total fail.
As a musician, I always appreciate it when producers get musicians to play musicians, so they look authentic. But usually they don’t, and all it gets from me is a little inner eye-roll. If I let it drive me nuts, I’d be really nutty by now. Oh, wait …
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Yeah, that’s pretty much my take on it. Perhaps I’d have had a different one had I just watched the commercial without being alerted.
I think they’re just doing something that’s not stereotypical, to get people to pay a little attention and maybe watch a few seconds longer before mentally checking out, in case they might actually be interested in finding a way to invest.
Yeah, but that’s educated and rational. I mean, sheesh.
You guys are reading WAY too much into this. It’s simply meant to look absurd, nothing more. I’ve never heard of knitting as a gay stereotype, but a grandma stereotype. Not a general feminine stereotype, a grandma stereotype, and those two are about the furthest away from grandma as it gets. It’s no different than if they showed two little old ladies in a garage changing the oil in a Camaro, talking about finally opening that body shop like they’ve always wanted. I wouldn’t get a lesbian vibe from that; it would be funny because you generally don’t see little old ladies pounding out dents with a mallet.
And sorry, knitpickers. 99% of the audience is not going to notice or care whether the guy is really knitting or not, and I doubt the producers did either.