Sporno: adidas' (inadvertently?) queer new advertising campaign

Photo: Getty Images

Nothing brings us more joy than stumbling upon an advertising campaign chock full o' queer subtext -- unless it's an advertising campaign chock full o' queer subtext AND half-naked rugby players. Thank God for adidas, which gives us both with their new site showcasing five hunky athletes from the Southern Hemisphere's top provincial rugby tournament, the Super 14.

The premise of the site is that you can make two of the five featured players from five different teams swap jerseys. You pick the two players and then they go at it -- pulling their uniforms from their taut, firm torsos and exchanging them with boyish glee. And then -- as if that weren't enough -- they refuse to get dressed again, preferring to stay shirtless with the new jersey casually slung over their shoulders. Even better is the "slo-mo replay" option that gives you an up close and personal shot of each players' abs and pecs.

There's some feeble attempt to pass this off as a site catering to women (at one point it's promoted as "game for the ladies") -- but we aren't fooled (and around this office, there are lots of "ladies" -- they just don't happen to be women). And while there surely must be some kind of moral here about "team work" and "good sportsmanship" -- who really cares!?

Now if only we couldn't convince adidas to do a jockstrap-themed swap...

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