Coca-Cola Co., Turbo

Members:

1996 Television 73% Report A Problem

In a self-reflexive commercial about a commercial being shot, Sprite has three tough-looking basketball players who aren't what they appear to be. When the director yells "Cut!" one reveals he's a British performer who studied at Cambridge, another speaks with a California accent and the last one, a sissy.

In a bit of a temper tantrum, the sissy clumsily drops the basketball he's holding and asks a question about his character's role, "Excuse me, excuse me... What's my motivation?"

The commercial's narrator says, "When you're thirsty, trust your gut, not some actor." The tagline: "Obey your thirst."

As the TV spot ends, we hear the exasperated sissy exclaim, "That's it, I am going to my trailer!"

Classically handling the "gay joke," it always arrives as the last zinger of the commercial. This ad won an Effie Award.

Company

Coca-Cola Co.

Brand

Sprite

Industry

Non-Alcoholic Beverages

Media Outlet

Television

Country

United States

Region

North America

Agency

Lowe Worldwide

AdRespect Themes

Camp/Gay Drag

Sissies

User Comments

Tim

You guys desperate for negative ads? Nothing anti-gay here. Should straight people get offended one guy sounded "straight?" Get off your high horse and stop with the grudges. We need to encourage more visable gay people in our media. Not blast a company for trying to use a gay theme (something the conservative Christian groups don't approve of).

Bryan Irrera

...I have to agree with previous posters. This is not really anti-gay. It's also not really "gay". I don't think there's any reason to think that the guy holding (then dropping) the ball is a "sissy" (no limp wrists, no lisp, no nothing). This is actually a pretty good message in this commercial: don't trust what you see on television and in most ads. Don't buy something because of the spokesman/actor/sports hero that endorses it. Buy it because YOU truly believe in the product.

John

I loved this commercial when it aired and I still love it. I do not think it has anything to do with homosexuality. As an actor, it is pretty right on target with what you see on the sets and how they do some forms of casting based on looks and how well you can portray a steroetype.

Kevin Fenton

I really like this commercial. I don't think that it portrays homosexuals as pornographers, murderers, or even greeted with fear. As a student of advertising, and a homosexual, I consult this web site a lot for insight to how far people read into commercials--especially the gay community. And I find that the main and basic concept of this commercial is completely lost. I think it deserves a positive rating or at least a neutral one.

Darus

This is just simply a fun commercial... and that's from a gay man.

Stuart Carroll

I think you've completely missed the point of this commercial. The whole idea behind it is "don't trust people who put on a front" -- the Cambridge guy playing 'hood, the sufer-dude playing New Yorker, or the gay guy playing straight. It's saying "trust yourself", and "be yourself". Not only that, it's poking fun at all stereotype -- from the "actors" to the characters they're supposed to be playing -- saying that ALL stereotypes are just as flimsy as these, including that of the queeny diva-esque actor. I'd put this in the positive, or at least neutral category.

Bruce Gardner

1) Give it another listen--the voice we hear saying "That's it, I'm going to my trailer" isn't the sissy, it's the 2nd guy.
2) he isn't that big of a sissy. Obviously this is pretty subjective, but if I hadn't seen the ad on this website I wouldn't have guessed this character was supposed to be gay, he's just not the macho stereotype he's playing in the ad-within-an-ad. I'm not sure this ad even belongs on this site.

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