They’re back.
A British honey company continues fighting the good fight, prominently featuring three gay bears in the second in a series of ads that truly takes things next-level.
Riffing on the Goldilocks fairy tale, the Rowse Honey ad stars a madcap menage of men named Matt, Joey, and Phil and follows their exploits as they go about their burly, hirsute days and nights.
It’s all very winsome and twee and you’re absolutely living, etc.
How about we take this to the next level?
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Related: Is this honey ad featuring “three bears” the best commercial ever made? You decide.
Jules Chalkley, the creative director of ad agency BMB, says, “We wanted to find the ultimate advocates for porridge and honey.”
So they set their sights on “the original porridge connoisseurs,” The Three Bears.
Talking to Ad Week, Chalkley says they wanted “to start from a position of absolute respect.”
“It was important to find the characters that would make it feel authentic and genuine, who we could trust to accurately represent the gay bear community. We cast and wrote very carefully, taking advice from people within the community, and encouraged the cast to co-write the scripts and be their genuine selves. Ultimately this is a funny and charming breakfast show for everyone and made with love and fun.”
So here’s that:
https://youtu.be/ctM_Cd_kqck
IWantAFullBeard
OMG. Can we see that one bear from HGTV?
Artiewhitefox
This is a sweet commercial teaching people how to make a great bowl of porridge.
GayEGO
Simply yummy!
Stache
I’ve never had porridge but now I want it. That and the guy making it.
HMFan
My turn after you. Can you use honey as lube?
kurt_t
Marion Nestle, author of Food Politics, has a lot of semi-tongue-in-cheek rules for food shopping, and one of her most famous ones is something along the lines of “Don’t buy anything with a cartoon character on the package.”
And, to me, these three bears are the cartoon characters on the package. They’re a charming, likable fiction that reaches us on a subconscious– or non-rational– level and obscures the danger inside the package, that danger being increased risk of obesity and diabetes.
Look at the blob of honey at 1:24. Do you really think it’s a good idea to put that much sugar in your body every morning? Or ever?
And if you feel inclined to dismiss my concerns with the English speaking world’s all purpose cliché “everything in moderation,” try asking yourself “Do I live in a culture that has any concept of moderation?” When you walk into a Starbucks, does that look like moderation to you? Or a restaurant? Or a warehouse store? And all the people are driving out of the parking lot in SUVs with a foot-long hot dog and a 32oz soda pop? Does that look like a culture that understands moderation?
I hate to be the one to urinate in the big happy rainbow punch bowl, but my urine is probably a lot less toxic than whatever was in that punch bowl to begin with.
Lvng1Tor
Umn…someone needs an all natural low cal sugar-free enema.
kurt_t
I don’t know what that’s even supposed to mean, Lvng1Tor. That sounds like a Donald Trump tweet.
dinard38
Geez man. Well aren’t you a “glass half empty” bloke. So companies are suppose to what? Stop making sweets because some people out there don’t know how to moderate their consumption?
Let’s just enjoy this cute commercial.
Well…..cute until the last few seconds. Why did have to queen out at the end? :-p ?
Jack Meoff
Geez sounds like someone left their cake put in the rain.
Stache
@Jack Meoff. As long as it’s sugar free.
Charlie in Charge
I’m not especially food conscious but I can agree with you that the imagery is meant to suggest “Honey is a healthy way to sweeten your food.”
You have people cooking in a forest after doing exercises and talking abut the proteins available in almonds so everything is screaming “What a vibrant healthy way to live” and then they suggest “pour honey on it” when they probably got enough sweetness from the bananas.
The commercial DOES suggest people can decide their own levels (the three different sizes of bowls) based on their concerns, and I do think they sell the larger bear as caring less about fitness than the other two, but yes the ad is targeted at people who think they want to eat healthy but really just wants loads of sugar.
Charlie in Charge
That said, from a gay inclusion in advertising angle, I love this commercial, and if you are going to pick a segment of the gay population inclined to add honey and not worry about the extra calories there Bears are the way to go.
chris33133
After having read the article and reactions about feminine men, I wonder where these bears would fall on the scale of masculine to feminine — especially as they go skipping through the forest at the end of commercial. ….. And I daresay, they are not turn-offs!
Tombear
Kurt “honey” it is obvious to me, a medical professional you are anal retentive and constapated. Perhaps if you went on the bear diet you would feel better about yourself!
bradley8
It’s all very winsome and twee!
192.168.1.1
HMFan
I would say all three of those bears are “too hot,” “too cool,” and “just right.”