Banned 1995 Guinness Ad Becomes a Hit

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Author: Yanir Dekel

In 1995 an ad for the beer brand Guinness, that showed a couple of men in their home, was censored. Fifteen years later it was uploaded to the web, and 2 years after that it became a web sensation!

A gay couple kissing on the cheek was too much for the world of advertisement in 1995, according to the ‘Guinness’ beer company, so a commercial that was produced in America that year under the title ‘Men and Women Shouldn’t Live Together’, never went on air, as the heads of the company feared a negative reaction after British tabloids described it as controversial and wrong. Later that year, the company even denied producing the commercial. Seventeen years later, and late last year the ad went viral and became a YouTube sensation.

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The ad shows two different kinds of men: one is a tidy and clean, stay-at-home guy who leads the audience to believe he’s a woman at the beginning of the ad, and the other one is a messy businessman going to work in the morning. The soundtrack of the ad is Tammy Wynette’s classic ‘Stand By Your Man.’

“Those men are a gay couple,” said then-creative director Tony Kay, “and with this storyline I believe we could’ve sold more beer if the ad went on air.”

It’s better late than never!

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17 COMMENTS

  1. If they had been airing that, I would certainly have bought more beer, and it would have been Guinness. Ahead of its time — certainly. Prophetic — undeniably. Step by step. State by state. Country by country. Sadly, Great Britain, Australia, and the US are not up to speed on this issue. “Full Equality Before the Law for All Citizens” is NOT to much to ask.

  2. What a great ad….such a shame it never got aired….they could do it now….would be a great hit

  3. fabulous ad. pity americans have no sense of humour Iol. I believe it was aired in U K with non of the moral minority backlash . I miss that laid back bit. get a life!

  4. Great Commerical. I agree this commercial would work today. They can’t they still use it today? It’s NOT like they could plus the beer is well liked today as it was then.

  5. To Red rooster: Actually we Americans do have a sense of humor, but lack humour…lol. Here’s the backstory of this commercial. The British multinational, Diageo,that owns Guinness ( along with Smirnoff, J.Walker, Capt. Morgan, Seagram, etc) commissioned the ad agency Ogilvy & Mather to make the ad. They hired the brilliant director Tony Kaye to write and direct this ad in 1995. The agency along with Guinness wanted it to be somewhat ambiguous about the relationship. Early screen tests left too many in the audience asking if the guys were gay, so Kaye insisted on the doorway kiss to remove all doubt and probably doomed it at that point. Advance screenings for the British press, pub owners and selected pub patrons in GB resulted in quite negative reviews. The British tabloids described it as “wrong” and “scandalous”, so Guinness pulled the plug before it was ever aired on British TV. They even denied it existed shortly after it was made. Tony Kaye in a ’97 interview was asked about why Guinness never aired and even denied it’s existence, he said “Most of them had a vision of a dead rat. I think it was charming and it was very funny and it would have sold a hell of a lot of beer”. So a Brit made it for a British owned Irish company; the British tabloids/pub owners/ pub-goers disliked it, so the Brits killed it, not the Americans. It never aired here in the States except latter on You Tube. It probably would have had the same small-minded reception here, so that’s another thing both of our countries share…small minded religious nuts. So Cheers!
    Guinness made another “gay” ad for St. Pats 2011, enitled “Man Hug”, it shows what 2 men should do to hug and not appear ‘gay’. You can take the ad either pro/con depending on your personal slant. Either reinforcing the worst stereotypes or exposing how stupid those stereotypes appear. The best gay ad recently was Kindle’s paperwhite ad that depicted being gay AND married as normal and matter of fact…Bravo!
    For those that don’t recognize Tony Kaye’s name he is the eccentric director behind scores of brilliant ads you’ve enjoyed for decades, his Hollywood debut was “American History X” and others and is an accomplished artist.

  6. The only thing “wrong” about this ad is what an utter slob the brunet is. It takes a very special partner to put up with that.

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