Unknown filmmaker | The Orangina “Gay” Tomcat / 2010 [banned commercial advertisement]

crossing the line

by Douglas Messerli

 

Unknown filmmaker The Orangina “Gay” Tomcat / 2010 [10 seconds] [banned commercial advertisement]

 

For some strange reason, the computer generated cat in this 2010 French ad, likes the popular family soft drink Orangina so much that he applies it to his face after shaving, using it like an after-shave lotion to soften his skin.

    Clearly this shaved pussy finds that it attracts the pretty gay boys, one such bare-chested hunk suddenly appearing next to him, to stroke his freshly shaved chin.

    Viewer complaints quickly made the Orangina company pull this ad, but it is still not quite clear what was at the heart of those objections that banned it from the TV screens.

     Did the bizarre idea of applying a popular drink to a shaving cat’s face just gross out viewers or, perhaps more likely, did the same sex, cross-species attraction too fully hint at bestiality—and “gay bestiality” at that?

     Was this a subtle homophobic statement? Was the company campily implying, perhaps, that this cougar (a street term for an older woman in search of young boys) was past “her” prime. Was the cat here confusing the fresh beverage for Rombauer Chardonnay, commonly described as “cougar juice,” which the urban dictionary refers to as “an alcoholic beverage consumed by older females looking for younger males?” A shaved pussy is confusing at the very least.

     The hot hepcats in this case had simply crossed the line where those bitchy straight housecats meow and scratch back.

 

Los Angeles, November 12, 2025

Reprinted from My Queer Cinema blog (November 2025).

   

Unknown filmmaker | Hot Towel! Hot Towel! / 2011 [commercial advertisement]

going my way?

by Douglas Messerli

 

Unknown filmmaker Hot Towel! Hot Towel! / 2011 [30 seconds] [commercial advertisement]

 

This British Travelocity ad plays on the various stereotypes of gay flight attendants in order to encourage gay men of various interests to take sign up, sit back, and be serviced nicely throughout their flights.

     It begins with a fairly stand bearded jolly type, Carl, who just wants “to take care of you.”

     A German sounding Jürgen, “services hard.” The unnamed French-accented attendant reports that “I can get you up first thing in the morning.”

     A short haired Brit attendant announces: “Heathrow, Gatwick, I go both ways.”

     The US representative is not into stopovers but he will do the red eye.

     The Frenchman argues, “Pick me if you have a tight budget.” Carl returns to tell us that he has a full range of films if you like to watch.

      An Asian, cloaked all in red, tells you he’s very exclusive, while Jürgen reassures us that he can go up to twelve hours without feeling tired.

      A beautiful lisping young steward suggests: “So just recline and let me service you.”

      A line of text reveals that there are over “700 airlines competing for you.”

      And our last mustachioed boy madly offers us a “Hot towel! Hot towel!”

 

Los Angeles, November 22, 2025

Reprinted from My Queer Cinema blog (November 2025).

Unknown filmmaker | Business Strip (Part 1) / 2011 [commercial advertisement] || Business Strip (Part 2): Room Service / 2011 [commercial advertisement]

all play and no work

by Douglas Messerli

 

Unknown filmmaker | Business Strip (Part 1) / 2011 [1.40 minutes] [commercial advertisement]

 

Long known for their sexy gay commercials, the Montreal-based Gregg Homme Underwear company produced in 2011 a diptych of hotel based ads, featuring model Thierry Pepin title Business Strip.

    In the first part, Pepin, dressed in business wear returns to from the hotel bar to his room, pulling out his laptop. He connects, and quickly get down to business, unbuttoning his shirt, pulling down his pants suspenders, and stripping the shirt off to the jazz rendition of “Perfect Kiss” by David Greenburger.

     He’s quickly revealed the bulge in his Gregg Homme Underwear, and the respondent on the computer comments with a “Really.” The computer icon incidentally is a gay male profile figure, so we no he isn’t posting a message back home to his girlfriend or wife.

    The man at the other end of the computer is now growing increasingly excited, typing out the words “Where are you?” followed by another male icon asking “Can I join,” while others simply post smile emojis.

    Finally, Pepin pulls down his underpants, revealing his ass, and tossing the pants at the computer screen, one last message registering “Would you dare?” before the screen goes white.

    The close simply reads: “Gregg Homme Outrageous Underwear.”

    It’s a lovely striptease and a clever add to boot. But you ain’t seen nothing yet.

 

 

*

 

 

Unknown filmmaker Business Strip (Part 2): Room Service / 2011 [1.30 minutes] [commercial advertisement]

 

Part two is one minute shorter but makes up for it with an even cleverer narrative.

     Here we see Pepin already stripped to his skivvies, drink in hand. But as the elevator approaches his level, he’s already changed from his white pair with a large black band into a dark blue pair in made of latex. The camera provides us several opportunities to observe the bulge as he heads off presumably to answer the door.

     The screen goes dark, and when an image again appears we observe that it’s the next morning, shoes lying beside the bed with our beauty boy laying in the white sheets. A continental breakfast of fruit, a small baguette, and orange juice awaits him—if only he can free himself of his right handcuff attached to the wall behind the bed.

     With his left hand he grabs the note left on the breakfast tray. It reads: “Thanks for the underwear. Keep the handcuffs! xxx”

 

Los Angeles, November 22, 2025

Reprinted from My Queer Cinema blog (November 2025).