This innocently homoerotic soap commercial from the ’80s makes us want to lather up
Zest.While Zest markets itself like a normal soap brand today–it sells body wash and bars of soap on its website–the company used to position itself as a “deodorant bar.” Early commercials claim the “deodorant bar” is superior to regular ol’ soap, because it doesn’t create soap scum.
Or something.“The Zest rinses cleaner…feels cleaner!” says an exuberant hardwood stud later in the ad. But just in case a catchy tagline wasn’t enough to sell these so-called deodorant bars–“You’re gonna say ‘nope’ to the soap!”–Zest decided to cast three shirtless basketball players in this ad from 1982.
The commercial begins with the players walking into the locker room and stripping off their jerseys. Just as they’re strolling in, another man calls out to them: “Hey Bobcats!
I bet you could feel cleaner without soap!”Understandably, the boys are flummoxed. “Feel cleaner?!?!” says one.“Come on, man,” adds another.But the invisible man who can apparently see into the locker room (lucky!) is persistent.
