WHERE SUCCESSFUL ADVERTISING MEETS LGBT EQUALITY

Anheuser-Busch InBev, Streaker

Members:

Broadcast first on the Super Bowl, various animals and two cowboys are watching a football game with Anheuser-Busch's venerable Clydesdale horses representing the players. A horse places his hoof atop the football that rests on the ground ready to start play.

Suddenly, a "naked" male sheep shorn of its wool breaks through the crowd of wooly sheep and interrupts the game by "streaking." Onlookers, mainly other species of animals, laugh at the sheep's silliness.

With everyone's attention, the sheep wiggles its butt, then stands on its hind legs and gyrates, upstaged by the heads of the two cowboys also watching -- indicating its genitals are showing. One of the cowboys looking on says, "Didn't need to see that." The other agrees, "Nope."

The ad earns a Negative rating because the ad seeks humor in the homophobic discomfort the cowboy feels at the sight of another "man" naked. This ad could've maintained its humor solely based on the clever anthropomorphic visuals of the animals playing football.

User Comments
Dave
Why did this ad earn a negative rating? The fact that it did illustrates an attitude that gay men should enjoy streakers ?! What if one of the cowboys smirked, or his eyes got wider, how would you interpret that ? The fact that the cowboy said what 50% of people where thinking, shouldn't (and probably doesn't) anger the other 50%.

Sam
You cite the cowboys' response to seeing the animal's genitals as playing off the time-honored terror that seems to grip straight men: Seeing another man naked. While this is certainly a realistic thing to note, I'm not entirely ceratin that you can relegate such fear to homophobia. I as a gay man don't necessarily want to see any another man's genitalia in the middle of a football game or in any other public place. Does this make me homophobic? Certainly not. While I would laugh at it and find it amusing, some people, gay or straight, are merely uncomfortable with public nudity or even nudity in the locker room at the gym simply because they are modest. And more simple than that, some people don't want to see other's naughty bits paraded about like a float in the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade simply on principle, regardless of whether that nudity is from a straight or gay man or woman.

Colin
As a gay man and an advertising professional, I have to say I completely disagree with this ad's negative rating. I can speak with absolute authority that the people who thought up this ad were in no way trying to poke fun at homosexuals. The ad is a spoof on a lenghty heritage of venerable clydesdale ads. The presence of the cowboys is not co-opting the timeliness of "brokeback mountain", it is just a convenient and logical choice. And to be fair to the creatives (who would probably be apalled to learn that anyone would suggest this ad is exploiting homophobic beliefs). I believe that if a sheep were to wag his genitals in front of me, my first response would be "I did NOT need to see THAT." Gay, straight, human or animal, I believe that is a truly universal response.

Chris
There is really nothing homophobic about this ad. The ad shows a streaking sheep! This ad has nothing to do with an individual's discomfort with gay sex or the male body. Furthermore, even if the ad had shown a human male streaking, why would it be offensive or homophobic for the cowboy to say that he did not want to be forced to see another man naked? The commerical is not set in a locker room, nude beach, or some other setting where there would be some sort of implied consent to view nudity from strangers. When a person violates reasonable expectations of modesty and forces another individual to see them naked, it is bad taste at best and a form of sexual assault at worst (i.e. indecent exposure).

Tony
Last I knew, a naked sheep was not a naked man. How is this homophobic? I think it is more ant-beastiality, which I don't want to judge, but I would say that could be something to be against. I for one don't want to see a sheep's nuts either.

Phil
I don't think not wanting to see someone else's genitals flopping about is homophobic. I would not be pleased if a naked man came running past me and stopped to do jumping jacks -- unless it was my boyfriend.

John
I think this is pretty much a non-gay issue. They're poking fun at streakers! There's no connection to being gay.

Mike
You are looking for homophobia where it does not exist.

Richard D.
I disagree with the negative rating. I don't view this advertisement as being an insult to homosexuals nor do view this as a homosexual-oriented ad. I see this as a natural response that a vast majority of people would have when presented with someone (man or woman) starts running naked at an inappropriate time. I personally find this advertisement incredibly funny and enjoyed the cowboys response being calm, rational and did not turn the situation into an ordeal.