Choreographed by award-winning director/choreographer Jo Roy, this visually striking ad features featuring world pole-dancing champion and Cirque du Soleil performer Alberto del Campo.
Shot in a single take, the 1’25” piece demonstrates the Spaniard’s breath-taking flexibility, strength, and beauty of execution. If you watch it without the sound on (and you don’t understand the sub-titles), that’s all you’re going to focus on – and it’s plenty.
But there is a sneery voiceover, a series of nasty comments attacking both the performer’s masculinity and his expression of athleticism through pole-dancing. The voice sounds like that of an older man, and the text is curiously old-fashioned – perhaps it’s intentional or perhaps there’s a new stigma to be found there.
Part of the #ILoveYouHater campaign, which encourages us to stay cool if we feel under attack from negative comments, ‘The Pole’ is for the fizzy drink Sprite, which belongs to Coca-Cola.
What do you think of it? Does it do a good job of deflecting attention from spiteful behaviour and putting the focus firmly on athleticism and performance? Do you think it’s just another brand jumping on a hot topic to sell sugary drinks, or doesn’t that even matter if it really helps people see things differently and change behaviour in the face of nasty comments?
Food for thought, a feast for the eyes.
To have your say on this and other ads, visit the ADDS site.
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