As part of Coca-Cola’s True Friendship campaign, the beverage giant teamed up with Oscar-winning screenwriter Dustin Lance Black (Milk, J. Edgar) to produce “El SMS (The Text),” a short film about two teen best friends.
From the film’s description:
The campaign, by Pereira & O’Dell, focuses on various different scenarios which question what makes a true friend (#VerdaderoAmigo). In this eight-minute film, a group of teen boys joke and tease each other in the usual high school way about girls, video games and such-like. Two of the boys are especially close buddies, but Rafael is hiding something from his friend Diego– he’s gay. When he leaves his phone unattended, Diego reads a text that surprises him. His decision to cover for his friend, and accept him for who he is, is what cements this true friendship. And, as Rafael points out, gay guys know all the pretty girls.
Black said in a statement: “‘The Text’ was perhaps the most personal for me to direct. As an artist, I feel I have a responsibility to share the stories of who LGBT people truly are in order to dispel any atmosphere of fear that might prevent LGBT people from sharing their lives openly.” He added, “For Coca-Cola to take a pro-diversity, pro-equality stance creates a lot of goodwill in the LGBT community.”
Watch below, and hit ‘CC’ to access English subtitles:
How about we take this to the next level?
Our newsletter is like a refreshing cocktail (or mocktail) of LGBTQ+ entertainment and pop culture, served up with a side of eye-candy.
h/t GailyGrind
Glenn Beverly Bennett Jr.
Awesome.
adrianjurado310
Coca-Cola’s True Friend Campaign has some great crap to play on the dead air waves these days. They should play it during the super bowl , they have enough money to buy the slot. how many gay boys have to die for this to happen? My gawd for once can you just do it for the sugar drinking gay boys from this monster corporation that has billions and enough to pay these alternative actors? dear gawd, oh dear gawd.
DDstar1me
This is sweet.
I appreciate the movement. Acceptance will take time. But I am happy that companies like Coca-Cola promote such positive thinking.
Dieter Michaels
The moral of this AD: you better be nice to us gay guys, because WE can hook you up with girls? wow. fail.
Raphael
Correction, it’s “O SMS”, we do not speak Spanish in Brazil. Coca-Cola has made a different short for each country in South America.
Kevin Cato
I would’ve liked some subtitles. (Still watched the whole thing though!)
Glücklich
@adrianjurado310:
Oh dear gaaaawwwwwd! Settle the hell down. Lay off the sugary drinks. They’re making you all wiggy.
ingyaom
How about North America?
ingyaom
Better yet, why not outlaw this toxic stuff?
Blackceo
That was really cute. Loved the song at the end too.
Robert Weinberg
Eric Matzke… Very cute. Press the cc for subtitles.
jwtraveler
I don’t care how much they pander to us; I’m not going to drink that liquid diabetes.
jwtraveler
I wonder if the gay-friendly folks at Coca-cola are aware that 40% of Brazilians have African ancestry, a fact not reflected in the faces of these kids. On the other hand, not marketing to the black population may reduce the incidence of diabetes and obesity in that population, an unattended benefit for them.
Rafael Pagan Jr.
Nice
Verlaine
I wonder if Mexican Coke is still made with real sugar? Regular U.S. Coca-Cola is sweetened with high fructose corn syrup.
Is the gay teen Hispanic demographic really so big that it justifies the cost of a 7-minute feature?
martinbakman
Go Dustin Lance Black 🙂
@Kevin Cato: Click on CC for subtitles
Avery Alvarez
Coca-cola supported Russian homophobia at the Sochi Olympics.
The drink is sugary garbage.
And they refuse to do one of these commercials in America. How brave and progressive of them!
I don’t care about hooking straight guys up with girls. Show me respect, and I’ll show you the same. If you want me to hook you up with hot girls, your straight ass better have some hot guys to hook me up with.
But on the whole, the clip is cute with a nice message.
Sluggo2007
@jwtraveler: Everything is about race to you, isn’t it? Why don’t you just STFU!!!! It’s nobody’s fault that you’re stuck in a race that you don’t want to be in. Get over it and move on with your life, or better yet, GET A LIFE!
Sluggo2007
@Dieter Michaels: I see this video clearly went over your head. How pathetic you are!
Young
@Kevin Cato: Just adjust your CC settings in YouTube. The subtitles are there.
Young
OK. If people can just take a step back from the sugar paranoia for a split second and take a look at this really thoughtful and what appears to be a well-produced effort in letting in a story that is actually touching and amazing, it would be cool. And a frosty, glass bottle of Mexican Coca-Cola on a scorching, sunny, Summer day is without a doubt a good thing — no apologies.
Bauhaus
@Young:
Salut!
Ditamo
@jwtraveler: And how do you know that they don’t have African ancestry? Just because a person doesn’t look black, doesn’t mean they don’t have black ancestry. Blacks in Brazil are only about 8% of the population, the rest being white at 48% and multi-racial at 43%. Anyways that is beyond the point. Who cares what race they are? It’s supposed to be about the message, which is a nice one.
Truth-is-Truthy
…and then they f***
jwtraveler
@Sluggo2007: Seems like you woke up with a nasty selfish, arrogant load of bitch up your ass.
Nothing frightens and angers white people more than when their sense of entitlement to white privilege is threatened.
natriley
@adrianjurado310: Why can’t you say Coke did a good thing and leave it at that.
jwtraveler
@Ditamo: People who are considered multi-racial in Brazil don’t look white. They look more like mixed-race African-Americans or Latinos. There are not a lot of blond black Africans, actually none.
As for who cares? I’d guess that many black Brazilians care about being invisible in the media of a country where they are nearly half the population.
What’s the message of the video? We want gay people to drink Coca-Cola.
Tommysole
@Dieter Michaels: I agree.
Some asshole I used to hang around with said to me once that I knew all the hot chicks, and also had the audacity to ask e if I cud arrange for a lesbian to eat pussy in front of him.
The jerk started to treat me lie an outlet for wank fodder.
Ditamo
@jwtraveler: The kid who is playing the straight friend is what many mixed Brazilian look like. Also being that I am multiracial with many generations of miscegenation, like most Brazilians, I know what I’m talking about when I say that there are people who might not look black but have African ancestry…whoever looks at me can see that I have African ancestry, but there are many of my family members that don’t look like they do. I understand that maybe there should be a black kid as well, but it shouldn’t be the reason to dis the video for not having one.
BlueDude
The message of diversity and friendship is commendable for such a giant corporation, and worthy of praise. I’ve noticed that only r@cists count faces. There are way more black folks in Alabama than in Montana. Who gives a FU©K? Be a human being, but don’t drink that sugary poison.
Matt1961
Slow clap standing O, well done. this needs to be a superbowl commercial.
Blackceo
First of all…Im in total agreement about staying the hell away from sodas and other sugary drinks; especially anything with high fructose corn syrup. I truly believe that there is a link between that and pancreatic cancer.
Second @Ditamo: Yes there is a legit need for better representation in commercial and print and you make valid points. All of what you said about Brazilians and their colorism issues are true but I just didn’t think this particular thread seemed right for it. I saw a cute commercial with a great message and honestly wasnt even thinking about race until I saw you say what you said. And again, valid points but I have to deal with race so often that sometimes I think we all just want to look at something and not pick it apart. But don’t be mistaken. I do hear you.
Overall, I still thought the video was so cute. Just left me with a good feeling.
Blackceo
Im sorry @Ditamo…..I meant to tag @jwtraveler in my previous comment.
Yet another example of Queerty needing an edit feature.. I mean come on….only struggle sites don’t have edit features these days.
captainburrito
@Dieter Michaels: That was just a tongue in cheek sweetener, a bit like coke. He already decided friendship was more important and covered for him before that, despite all the sh1t his friend was giving him.
jasentylar
I love it. We need more vids like this.
Stache99
Cool but if I was Tom Daley I’d be following DLB around with all those cute teens around.
Ditamo
@Blackceo: There used to be a edit button, and a thumbs up and thumbs down button for comments, but they took it away. They should bring it back…
slckp
@adrianjurado310: There is so much hate! This is a great step in our fight for rights. Stop being so negative.
Sluggo2007
@jwtraveler: Awww. What’s the matter? Did I hit a nerve? The truth hurts, doesn’t it?
Cee
Did all the kids have to look like catalog models? JC Penny anyone?
themartyred
@Cee: HA! so true… DLB picked out all the adorable ones perhaps?
As for it being soda, it’s simply “see, it’s what all the cool kids are drinking!” lol… good message, sitting underneath the typical veneer of stereotype and super thin model types that we see in ads and shows. We didn’t expect them to show obese kids drinking soda pop, when we know that’s the type who almost certainly have guzzled gallons over the years!