NEW YORK--Soft drinks maker Coca-Cola Co has launched a gay-friendly ad featuring a brother and sister vying for the attention of a handsome pool boy in the campaign that has won praise for diversity and inclusion.
"Sibling rivalry never looked more inclusive," Out Magazine said of the commercial that debuted last week. Marketing Week also approved.
While gay-themed movies and television shows are commonplace, advertising has been slower to embrace same-sex couples, especially among marquee brands. The ad, part of the company's global "Taste the Feeling" campaign, features a teenage girl ogling the pool boy from a downstairs window while her brother does the same from upstairs.
The duo race to the refrigerator and try to trip each other in a bid to be the first to give the open-shirted worker an ice-cold Coke as the Italian song "Come Prima" plays in the background. Despite the siblings' efforts, by the time they reached the pool guy their mother had already given him a Coke.
The ad has no dialogue and is one of four in the company's new global campaign.
"It's a human story where Coca-Cola plays a key role in the development of the drama," said Ali Brubaker, senior manager of global brand PR for the company. "We are managing culturally relevant messages organically within our spots not as the main subject of the story but as sub-text."
