WHERE SUCCESSFUL ADVERTISING MEETS LGBT EQUALITY

Pacific Dunlop, Airport

Members:

A sexy man is stopped at the metal detector in an airport by an enthusiastic female security guard. Every time he walks through, she asks him to remove an article of clothing--first his shirt (revealing a muscular chest), then his pants.

As he walks through wearing nothing but his underwear, he gives her a challenging stare and walks away with his luggage. The other female security guard comes over to the first and removes an electronic device from the woman's pants--it's what artificially made the metal detector beep! She says, "One day, you're going to get caught."

As the man walks away, she scoffs and says, "Oh, he's probably gay."

In a twist, this commercial has appeared with different closing comments from the woman, "Nice luggage," which would otherwise completely make the commercial irrelevant to this survey. The idea, according to a spokesman for the ad agency, was to "make the ads even more noticeable by their changes, to encourage discussion and comment in the community. The result was that 'talk back' radio stations picked up on it and became quite a topic of conversation, all adding free airtime to the campaign."

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User Comments
George
This reminds me of a joke Ray Romano said, "Why is that women insist men who don't want them are gay? You never hear men insist that women who don't want them are lesbians!" What Ray Romano said is worth thinking about.

Jeffrey
I don't find the ad homophobic in the least and I'm not straight. I've heard straight women make this comment several times when they see a hot guy, and not in Australia.

Paul N.
I think the minus is WAY OFF on this one. Witty, funny, sexy ad.

David K.
I used to respect this website's commentary, though I didn't always agree with it. The comments made about this ad, however, are heterophobic and spiteful: vengeful schoolgirl? Please. The ad is light, humorous, and not difficult at ALL to watch. I wonder if the guard were male would he have said, "Must be straight..."?

Patrick M.
I agree with Eric -- it's a wistful comment which one (girl)friend would say to comfort another, especially about a very good-looking guy...

Eric L.
The surveyors have misread this. The disappointment does not sound at all vengeful. She sounds more woeful. What she means is, "He's too cute to be straight" -- just as single women often lament "all the good men are either already married or gay." The look he gives her can be interpreted as meaningful as well as challenging, as if he enjoys teasing her. And of course he isn't going to stop and flirt with her, he's about to get on a plane!

Stuart
This ad displays the typical Australian humour, and I agree with previous comments that it has been misread as being negative. Interestingly, the "Oh, he's probably gay" phrase has entered the Australian vernacular but not in a negative way, displaying a more "Oh well, what can you do" type attitude that is in no way negative.

Robert P.
I agree with the others. The comment about him probably being gay is because he is too good looking and well-built to be straight. The rating should be a big plus sign, not a minus sign.

Andrea
I wouldn't score it a "minus": the message is a good-looking, masculine, self-confident guy is likely gay which sounds to me quite comforting (even if untrue..)