A History of Diet Coke in 10 Commercials
Time for a Diet Coke break as we look back at 35 years of the brand's adverts and gratuitous male toplessness.
Diet Coke, which turns 35 this week, has had many commercial identities. From shirtless hunks through to puppets and, well, right back to shirtless hunks again, the brand has often been a one-brand reaction against the male gaze. Here are 10 of its finest spots, which are actually way more varied than you may have realised...
Just For the Taste of It, 1983
Diet Coke's first series of ads, however, were a very different affair. In one of the first, the drink is unveiled at a very of-its-era Hollywood gala full of very of-its-era celebrities like Telly Savalas and Carol Channing, with nary a male nipple in sight.
Batman Returns, 1992
For the '80s and early '90s, Diet Coke merely aped the Pepsi model, getting celebrities like Whitney Houston, Jerry Hall and, in the above, a Michael Keaton-era Batman to appear in their ads. Best of the bunch may be this tie-in to Batman Returns which ends with the caped crusader bat-grabbing a cold can from Catwoman.
Diet Coke Break, 1995
Finally, 13 years into the brand's life, we get some male bimbo brawn as an office call a 'Diet Coke break' at 11:30, the exact time a local construction worker takes his shirt off and takes a sip of everyone's favourite aspartame-filled beverage.
One Canner, 1995
With the Diet Coke hunk becoming an advertising icon, it feels weird to watch Coca-Cola's other 1995 ad for its diet soda, a very different approach that is a fascinating road not taken where two old men joke over how many Diet Cokes they need after eating spicy foods, all without a single person taking their top off.
Maniac, 2010
Another well-known series of Diet Coke ads saw puppets Eleanor, Bernadette, and Irene working in the fashion industry and generally looking for excuses to dance on tables, take power tools to outfits and generally cause strings-attached havoc.
The Gardener, 2013
For the brand's 30th birthday, the puppets were sent packing and the (zero calorie) eye-candy returned in a tribute ad that, were it reenacted in real life, would have led to some majorly nasty can shrapnel incidents.
Marc Jacobs, 2013
Following the brand's puppet fashionistas, Diet Coke conjured up a number of fashion designers to act as 'creative director' over the years. Designers like Karl Lagerfeld and Jean-Paul Gaultier designed Diet Coke bottles, and Marc Jacobs even appeared as the hunk in a special commercial announcing the collaboration.
Taylor Swift - Kittens, 2014
Another year, another approach as Tay-Tay and Coca-Cola collaborate in a cutesy spot that advertises Diet Coke as well as Swift's upcoming 1989 album. In the ad, a kitten appears every time she takes a sip, which is far more of a Twilight Zone-style horror situation than the ad acknowledges.
Economy Class, 2014
In another ad, part of the same What if life tasted as good as Diet Coke? campaign (Diet Coke's Carlsberg Don't Do... rip-off affectionate tribute), a woman drinks the beverage on an airplane, turning her cheap flight into The Great Gatsby at 20,000 feet, complete with a hunk who, sadly, stays suited.
Pool Boy, 2017
As part of Coca-Cola's new integrated campaign featuring all varieties of Coke, we get a new spin on the hunk theme. The eponymous pool boy gets sweaty and a girl, the boy next door and the girl's mother all race to sooth his thirst with a coke. A great step towards diversity that promises many years of people of all sexualities, ages and races objectifying men. I'll drink to that!
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