WHERE SUCCESSFUL ADVERTISING MEETS LGBTQ+ EQUALITY

AdRespect Ad Library Profile

View larger version of the video Members Only!  Download video!
Save as a FavoriteSave as a FavoriteSave as a FavoriteSave as a Favorite

Company: Gruppo Campari
    View Company Scorecard / Contact Company
Brand: Campari
Ad Title: Adulterous Scratches
Business Category: Alcoholic Beverages
Media Outlets: Television
Country: Italy
Region: Europe
Agency: BRW & Partners
Year: 1999
Target: Mainstream
Company: Gruppo Campari
    View Company Scorecard / Contact Company
Brand: Campari
Ad Title: Adulterous Scratches
Business Category: Alcoholic Beverages
Media Outlets: Television
Country: Italy
Region: Europe
Agency: BRW & Partners
Year: 1999
Target: Mainstream
Company: Gruppo Campari
    View Company Scorecard / Contact Company
Brand: Campari
Ad Title: Adulterous Scratches
Business Category: Alcoholic Beverages
Media Outlets: Television
Country: Italy
Region: Europe
Agency: BRW & Partners
Year: 1999
Target: Mainstream
Company: Gruppo Campari
    View Company Scorecard / Contact Company
Brand: Campari
Ad Title: Adulterous Scratches
Business Category: Alcoholic Beverages
Media Outlets: Television
Country: Italy
Region: Europe
Agency: BRW & Partners
Year: 1999
Target: Mainstream
none

Theme(s)

LGBTQ+ Inclusion

Coupled Cheater

Male-Fantasy Lesbian

GLBTQ+ Punch Line

Theme Breakdown

AdRespect Score: 
none
Help AdRespect in its mission with a tax-deductible donation!

In an extravagant hotel, with opera music playing, a woman wearing a coat and pants descends into the room by a grand staircase.

She sits at a table alone and slyly stares at a man in a suit across the room and then clinks her glass with her fingernails.

He then grasps the back of his shoulder, which is noticed by the long-haired blonde sitting with him. She jumps up, pulls back his undershirts and reveals finger scratches on his neck.

Angrily, she looks back at the first woman, who is smirking. The blonde throws her drink into the face of the man and then charges across the room to the woman. Her shall then falls from her shoulder, revealing three scratches of her own. The confused man frowns, and he gets a similar smirk from the first woman, revealing the love triangle.

This is a rare example The Commercial Closet has of bisexuality--which is downright invisible in advertising.

Even though one wears more masculine clothes, the women here are still very glossy. Typically, lesbians are there for the male gaze, almost fulfilling his fantasy but staying out of reach.

Alcohol companies are well represented in The Commercial Closet, largely due to an effort in the mid-1990s to pull away from the industry's longterm sexist advertising themes that objectified women. Such beer commercials were summed up by the Swedish Bikini Team ads from Stroh Brewing Co. for Old Milwaukee. Looking for new material to mine, brewers began extensively playing with gay and transgender themes in their advertising. However, because beer drinkers are stereotypically macho, the tone of many of the ads were more often negative.

none

Robert d'Artois , Storrs, CT.
I loved this commercial! It is highly sophisticated and does not fall into the easy, cheesy clichés used by alcohol companies when they advertise using gay/lesbian topics. A masterpiece!

Darus Walls , Milwaukee
You anticipate an altercation between the two woman over this guy; however it has the perfect twist.

Spencer Lucas , Glenside, PA
Love it. One could argue that it furthers the "bisexuals are cheaters" stereotype, but I don't mind when it's so clever and nonjudgmental.

Chris Holden , New York, NY
Terrific commercial. It's almost a film in itself. As tight and as broad as a Hemingway short story. Fits Hemingway's iceberg theory, that 7/8 of the story is hidden beneath the surface. The fact that it has a bi-sexual theme makes it even richer.

none



A Little Bit Older, A Whole Lot Bolder
Company: Gruppo Campari
Brand: 1800 Reposado tequila
Country: United States
Region: North America
Year: 2003



Angel and Devil
Company: Gruppo Campari
Brand: Campari
Country: United States
Region: North America
Year: 2005



The Secret
Company: Gruppo Campari
Brand: Campari
Country: Italy
Region: Europe
Year: 2005

AdRespect Score:


Arctic Bikinis
Company: Gruppo Campari
Brand: Skyy Vodka
Country: United States
Region: North America
Year: 2002



Arms
Company: Gruppo Campari
Brand: Skyy Vodka
Country: United States
Region: North America
Year: 2006



Boat
Company: Gruppo Campari
Brand: Skyy Vodka
Country: United States
Region: North America
Year: 2003



Deck
Company: Gruppo Campari
Brand: Skyy Vodka
Country: United States
Region: North America
Year: 2002



Elevator
Company: Gruppo Campari
Brand: Skyy Vodka
Country: United States
Region: North America
Year: 2008



Go Natural
Company: Gruppo Campari
Brand: Skyy Vodka
Country: United States
Region: North America
Year: 2008



Just Out
Company: Gruppo Campari
Brand: Skyy Vodka
Country: United States
Region: North America
Year: 1995


none

Submit An Ad Test An Ad Rate An Ad Post Comments