Egg, Guinea Pigs

As footage of lab technicians entering a fictional research lab is shown, a voiceover introduces the ad's main characters: "Egg research revealed some guinea pigs were worried they had overspent a little."

As researchers monitor the guinea pigs, the animals delve into their finances. "Jamie and I felt like we had been spending a bit too much," says the first guinea pig. His partner continues, "Champagne truffles: guilty as charged." On account of the guinea pigs' "gay" accent, it is clear that the guinea pigs are meant to be a homosexual couple.

The first guinea pig explains, "So we did a checkout with Egg to see how we were doing with our money and we got a new Egg card that's got no percent on balance transfers and it's got no percent on new purchases. It was fabulous. It felt like the lights had been turned on again."

With clever animation, his partner hops up to turn on the lamp above the sofa where they'd been sitting in the dark: "Like this. Now we can see where we are financially."

The ad earns an Equal rating because it implies a biological basis for homosexuality by shedding light on its prevalence in the animal kingdom, and it presents a seemingly happy gay couple, despite the fact that the partners are personified by lab rats.

The ad is a step forward from earlier Egg ads that included a creepy man stalking another man and popping up at home.