Coca-Cola has voluntarily taken an ad for Coke Zero off the air which features a fantasy relationship breakup (for many no doubt) starring pole dancers and scantily-clad women.
Aussie media blog Mumbrella writes that the Australian Family Association has labeled the ad sexist and that the Advertising Standards Bureau (ASB) has received 45 complaints about it. That’s a pretty high number compared to the usual one or two received by at ASB (A.M.I ads the exception).
The soft drink giant is now awaiting the outcome of the ASB investigation. Watch it here:
Some of my female mates find it offensive, but it seems more boring to me than anything else.
24 comments
Simon Rumble says:
Apr 16, 2009
Kinda dull. It’s just a rip off of the “If Carlsberg made…” ads…
Sheila says:
Apr 16, 2009
ok – maybe it’s a girl thing – offended here
Sweet Sister Morphine says:
Apr 16, 2009
I find it more insulting to males, or perhaps human intelligence generally, than anything.
Incidentally, I notice that there was no public outcry about those tampon ads that depicted men as so stupid and ignorant that they didn’t know what a tampon was for.
John says:
Apr 16, 2009
@Sweet Sister Morphine
That’s because the majority of the public consider a “stupid or wrong” male funny. It’s a ridiculous double standard, but nonetheless true.
In this case though I would have to agree that it is more insulting to males as it depicts that ALL guys think like that… when really 60-70% do – hehe.
Ash says:
Apr 16, 2009
I can’t believe there’s people who actually take the time to whinge about stuff like that. Would it be easier for these people to just, you know, hire a video or something instead? Leave commercial television to the thugs and hooligans it’s targeting with these advertisements?
Ash says:
Apr 16, 2009
There was supposed to be an amusing dismissal at the end there, but it was stripped out. Don’t take my comment too seriously, in any case.
Glenn says:
Apr 16, 2009
It is amazing to think that Coca-Cola spent a lot of money to make this ad then show it on TV, only to pull it just because a moronic group whinged about it. Coca-Cola has just wasted their money.
Mike says:
Apr 16, 2009
@Glenn:
I think they wasted their money the moment they paid the agency. It’s a cringe-worthy ad in my opinion.
Vanessa says:
Apr 16, 2009
So much for paying for creative ads. Boring and overdone.
HTA says:
Apr 16, 2009
They would have lost a lot more money if there was significant media attention, which could potentially have happened if they hadn’t pulled it.
Jane says:
Apr 16, 2009
I can understand the upset, but what’s sadder than this advert is that it’s probably true of a lot of men.
Chris says:
Apr 16, 2009
I really don’t understand why this stuff sells Coke, There must be an enormous number of morons out there to be influenced by rubbish like this, but then I consider 99% of ads rubbish anyway.
Vireya says:
Apr 16, 2009
The ad says to me that women are not meant to drink Coke Zero. I hadn’t realised that before, but I’ll stop drinking it now.
Jake says:
Apr 17, 2009
@Jane
I’m more offended by that comment than the ad itself.
That being said though, the ad pretty well reinforces what I’d call unwholesome attitudes towards both men and women. Quite glad that there’s not another dumb ad on telly.
The pole dancers weren’t offensive to me. What I found offensive was the message the ad brings across.
J says:
Apr 17, 2009
It’s good marketing.
What could have been a mediocre ad, and one that just slid by our collective attention span, now has the attention of many people.
If people didn’t find it offensive, we wouldn’t be discussing it – and by extension, coke – right now.
As for “the message the ad conveys” or “how it sells coke” – these things aren’t relevant. It doesn’t matter *how* coke advertises, as long as they do.
Offensive? Sure.
Waste of money? Not even close. It’s been a great investment for them.
The Patrician says:
Apr 18, 2009
At least it’s more bearable then the Lagy GaGa song below.
Vanessa says:
Apr 20, 2009
Okay J. Let’s have all advertising companies advertise with strippers, then kindly take the ad off as soon as it looks like it “might” cause trouble.
Everyone gets a great advertising gig, since it’ll be talked about.
june price says:
Apr 20, 2009
That’s exactly why my last boyfriend dumped me and he said as much. The ad just reinforces the attitude of many males and normalises their behaviour, making them go “Yeah, right on, why aren’t all women like her?” I think the ad creates a comradery among those stupid men who act like that. They are so stupid that they think the ad is telling them they are heroes! Dangerous stuff!
Carolyn says:
Apr 20, 2009
Waste of money: No – the ad definitely upped coke zero sales – perhaps not so in Australia as it’s been taken off air.
There were also the Coke ‘Myths Busted’/Kerry Armstrong ads which were controversial and Coke are now apologising for…so it seems here Coke doesn’t want to cause any more trouble.
I don’t know that much about advertising – but surely if males in Europe obviously responded so well to the Life As It Should Be ad campaign, they connected with the messages in some way? (just speculating here)
Didn’t think twice about the ad when I glanced at it on the telly, but now that I have thought about it…
“life as it should be” – depicting this bullshit – seems pretty sexist to me. And I agree with others above; it’s not only towards women.
Actually…what I find more offensive are Mother cans…ridiculously male marketing written on the cans, talking about balls nonstop, and up the duff women…offensive as in tasteless and stupidly stereotypical.
Travis says:
May 2, 2009
Just a cheap ad … very dumb and boring!
fred says:
May 23, 2009
“ok – maybe it’s a girl thing – offended here”
In the words of Stephen Fry – “so you’re offended. So fucking what?!”
finally a mum says:
Jun 28, 2009
Guys should finally get a clue. Women have a right to be able to plan their family lives – and that doesn’t just mean avoiding a baby on Saturday night. Women should be able to expect to have children IN CONTEXT. Reproductive health is long term. Messing around with sex means messing around with family life. I resent Coke making fun of women’s sexual needs, just to brand a Diet Coke for men.
Utah Dentist says:
Oct 23, 2009
*sigh* I bet there were no women in the team who made this.
Urgal Glurgal says:
Nov 30, 2009
It’s advertisement. Which means it’s aimed at earning money and nothing more. Which means it’s full of biased crap.
Which means people should see it for what it is. The only thing you should care about is how good the product is and not what the ad is about. Sure, some ads are funny to watch, but that doesn’t mean I’m going to choose that brand over everything else.
What’s sad here isn’t the sexist portrayal of women (or men). It’s how the stupid public fails to recognize advertisement for what it is, which is commercial propaganda.