Advertisers are moving away from using pictures of white and straight couples for fear of offending gay people or being accused of homophobia.

Marketing departments are promoting diversity in their campaigns to 'prevent perceived discrimination', a survey of 500 companies has revealed.

A third of advertisers said they had used fewer white models and straight couples in the last year.

Ikea used a picture of a gay couple to promote their 'all homes are created equal' campaign

Adverts that have featured gay couples include Ikea's 'all homes are created equal' that showed two men cuddled up together.

Lloyds ran a 'he said yes' campaign and Tiffany, the jeweller, also launched an advert featuring a same-sex marriage proposal.

Dove, which is owned by the Anglo-Dutch giant Unilever, recently featured 32 women ranging in age from 11 to 71 from more than 15 countries, including Iran, Indonesia, Germany and Brazil for its 'real beauty' campaign.

The study by Shutterstock and reported by The Times found half of marketing departments had increased their use of racially diverse pictures over the past year and third increased their use of gay couples.

The overwhelming majority that used images of gay couples or 'non-traditional' families said they did so even if it did not fit with their brand.

Half said they were using fewer white people because they no longer represented 'modern society'.

The 2011 census found 87.2 per cent of the population is white, 2 per cent mixed race, 6.9 per cent Asian and 3 per cent black. Less than 1 per cent identified themselves as 'other'.

However since then there has been significant migration to the UK. Last year net migration from outside the EU was 175,000.

A recent advert by Lloyds Bank featured a same-sex couple's proposal (pictured)

Unilever's Dove Real Beauty campaign showcased 32 women, aged 11 to 71, from 15 countries

This is a marked change by an industry that, until recently, was accused of not having enough minority groups in adverts.

As recently as 2010 only 5 per cent of TV adverts contained someone from an ethnic minority.

Keren Sachs, content development director of Shutterstock, said: 'The people chosen to represent campaigns have an obvious and visual impact on public life. This appears to be changing.

'Marketers are now being more inclusive through their choice of images. Our research shows that marketers in the UK are shifting their attitudes and selecting images, primarily to represent modern-day society.'

Trevor Phillips, former chairman of the Equality and Human Rights Commission, added: 'Businesses have to appeal to minorities but also the white population, who think it's peculiar if they see an ad that doesn't have minorities in it and looks like they are being sold something from the 1950s.'