Merisant, J'en avais assz qu'on me traite de gros pede

The headline for this artificial sweetener published in gay magazine Têtu shows a very thin young man wearing just underwear as he hangs out in a tree, and translates to "I was fed up being called 'fat fag.' " (Pédé is shorter for pédéraste, a passive homosexual.)

The tagline, "En gros, il est plat" is a pun which can translate two ways: "Generally speaking, it is flat" or "When it is big, it is flat," meaning the larger pack is flat. They imply that even if you eat a lot of it, your stomach will remain flat.

This ad is a global rarity, identifying gay discrimination in a corporate ad. Ironically, this campaign weas very successful and appreciated in the gay community, even while Canderel was not considered a gay-friendly company.

The campaign was illustrated by Edmond Kiraz, a well known designer, who published a lot of cartoons in famous French magazines like Paris Match.

"For a long time, we tried to convince the client to be interested in gays, who take care of their body and their appearance," explained to CitéGay Valerie Lombard, responsible for the Canderel budget at Young & Rubicam. "It is known already that 30% of the consumers of sucrettes are men. And gays like the new packaging in the shape of a credit card."