--- title: An Ad That Embarrassed Even Me! description: The other day a friend sent me a new Sprite ad that had been banned in Germany I watched it and it was so over the top it even made me feel a little image: https://karen-rubin.hs-sites.com/hs-fs/file-14918927-jpg/images/sprite2.jpg --- [![Karen Rubin's Ramblings](https://karen-rubin.hs-sites.com/hubfs/Karen_Rubin_June2016_Theme_Images/karen-rubin_logo.jpg "Karen Rubin's Ramblings")](https://karen-rubin.hs-sites.com/) # Karen Rubin's Ramblings # An Ad That Embarrassed Even Me! Posted by Karen Rubin on Wed, Jul 22, 2009 @ 10:07 AM - [Tweet](https://twitter.com/share) The other day [a friend](http://www.twitter.com/lintzston) sent me a new Sprite ad that had been banned in Germany. I watched it and it was so over the top, it even made me feel a little uncomfortable! However, my laughter intrigued my colleagues and the end result was a group viewing which sparked the discussion of if it could possibly be real, and if so "what was Sprite thinking!?!?" ![](https://karen-rubin.hs-sites.com/hs-fs/file-14918927-jpg/images/sprite2.jpg)   As it turns out, it wasn't real. It was not created by Sprite but instead by an MTV director who wanted to see what would happen and called it a "social experiment."   The thing is, what I expect happened is that a lot of people who saw it really questioned Sprite as a brand. It brings two questions to mind, first what should Sprite do? Second, in an age of unlimited content creators, how can brands protect themselves?  Here is the ad in case you missed it. Please beware it is NOT SAFE FOR WORK or CHILDREN! 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