NSFW: Pornish Antacid Ad is a Hoax, Banned Sprite Ad Not a Sprite Ad

When we got a too-good-to-check email that’s been circulating about a South African Gaviscon commercial, we just had to ruin the fun by checking:

It illustrates what can go wrong when someone who is ESL (English as a second language) writes the punch line for the advertisement.

The email features screen shots of a heartburn-addled hottie ingesting milky-white liquid firemen, with the tagline “It’s like a Fireman came in your mouth!”

This wouldn’t be the first time that an ad campaign got lost in translation, but the email rumor suffers from some obvious flaws.  First of all, English is the most widely-used of South Africa’s 11 official languages, so it’s not likely that a South African company would hire someone who didn’t speak it well.

Second, and more importantly, if the screenshots are for real, why not just send a link to the video?

Here’s the actual ad.  With thick, white, sentient liquid as its star, that punchline isn’t such a stretch.