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ad campaign

It's no secret that half the country was regularly revitalised with litres of 7UP in the Eighties and Nineties.

Still, a far newer lemon-and-lime beverage has been muscling in on our thirsty ways since it launched in 2001.

Step forward Sprite – always somewhat of a controversial alternative to its longer-established rival, but nonetheless a formidable option for those in the market for a citrus-based fizzy drink.

Sadly for Sprite, however, the brand endured a bit of a battering on social-media today – with its #BrutallyRefreshing campaign drawing in plenty of hard-hitting criticism. 

Brandishing deeply uncomfortable taglines such as "she's seen more ceilings than Michelangelo"; "you're not popular, you're easy", and "a 2 at 10 is a 10 at 2," it appeared on a male-focused lifestyle website before hastily being removed as the backlash took off. 

Conversation on the matter remained in full flow online this evening – with outraged Twitter users being quick to express their disdain for the advert. 

Among them was popular 2fm host Louise McSharry. Sharing a screen-shot of the offending campaign, she asked her 15K followers: "SERIOUSLY with this takeover in 2016?" The message later received close-to 100 retweets and the same number of likes.

A response to Louise from the editor of the site admitted that the ad didn't reflect its "brand values". "It shouldn't have been there and it has since been removed," he added.

Still, further comments online called the ads "appalling and disgusting," while one person stated: "Sprite's sexist 'banter' marketing campaign tastes old and flat. On the boycott list!"

Others were more playful, however; one user's lighthearted commentary read: "Kinda impressed by how awful Sprite's #BrutallyRefreshing campaign is.

"It looks like someone in advertising was trying to get fired."

Meanwhile, plenty of others simply stated their sudden craving for a cool, refreshing – and non-insulting – bottle of 7UP.

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There has been significant backlash against this campaign in which pancreatic cancer sufferers say they wish they had other forms of cancer.

Pancreatic Cancer Action, the group behind the ads have said: “All cancer is dreadful and this campaign is not suggesting that anyone’s suffering resulting from cancer is worse than another’s. It simply expresses the real thoughts and feelings of many pancreatic cancer patients.”

The group has also said that their campaigns express “how it feels to be diagnosed with a disease that leaves you with no hope at all”.

Have a look and see what you think.

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