The archive · Marketing & Growth · Marketing decision · 2025
SBS makes an ad only it can air — full-frontal nudity proves 'We Go There', Spikes GP
SBS's 50th-birthday ad is too explicit for any other network — only SBS can air it, and that exclusivity is the point; a PG version ran elsewhere.
SBS (Special Broadcasting Service)
What it had to solve
In 2025 SBS, Australia's multicultural public broadcaster, turned 50 and faced competition from free-to-air rivals and streamers, struggling to cut through. Its affectionate 'sex before soccer' reputation was something the brand could own — the campaign needed to remind Australians what only SBS dares to show.
How it works
For its 50th birthday in 2025, Australia's multicultural public broadcaster SBS wanted to cut through in a crowded market against free-to-air networks and streamers. Its cheeky reputation — many Australians joked SBS stood for 'sex before soccer' — was both the joke and the opportunity: instead of hiding it, the brand could own it.
Droga5 ANZ's answer was 'We Go There', anchored by a hero film called 'The Ad That Can Only Be Seen On SBS'. The 60-second spot was so explicit — full-frontal nudity throughout — that classification rules meant no other Australian network could run it. Only SBS could, and that exclusivity was the whole point.
A PG version of the film ran across TV, outdoor and social, while billboards with headlines that 'left everything to the imagination' teased the uncensored film. The curiosity gap drove people to SBS On Demand, where the full M-rated spot lived — what the agency called 'a modern product demonstration' of the content only SBS offers.
The concept held from first presentation to screen, kept intact through the boardroom, and the campaign won the Entertainment Grand Prix at Spikes Asia 2026. SBS reported a 12% rise in new SBS On Demand viewers in October 2025, and audience testing found the ad changed how people saw the broadcaster.
Why it lands
- The ad's content and its distribution were the same idea: an ad that only SBS can air is the purest demonstration of SBS's positioning.
- Scarcity created demand — instead of broadcasting to everyone, the brand withheld the full film and let intrigue pull people to its platform.
- It turned a liability (the 'sex before soccer' reputation) into an asset by embracing it playfully rather than denying it.
- The uncensored film was the honest expression of the brand's promise, and the PG cut let the campaign run everywhere else.
- The strategic discipline was simple and transferable: prove the point, don't just claim it.
What it did
The film won the Entertainment Grand Prix at Spikes Asia 2026, plus a Gold and a Bronze Spike. SBS reported a 12% increase in new SBS On Demand viewers in October 2025, and audience testing found the ad made people 'see SBS in a new light' as braver and more diverse than they had assumed.
What you can take
Make the medium the message: content whose only possible home is your platform turns the restriction itself into proof — and scarcity makes audiences seek the ad out.
Since then
The 'We Go There' campaign launched in May 2025 as SBS marked its 50th year, with the hero film available only on SBS On Demand. At Spikes Asia 2026, the work won the Entertainment Grand Prix along with a Gold and a Bronze Spike, and was shortlisted twice more. SBS chief marketing officer Jane Palfreyman said the idea received broad support across the network, and the broadcaster continued to use the campaign's tone in later brand work.
Sources
- SBS marks 50 years in Australia with launch of 'The Ad That Can Only Be Seen On SBS' via Droga5
- Full Frontal Nudity? SBS and Droga5 Prove 'We Go There' In Explicit Ad That Can Only Be Seen On SBS
- Independent Agencies and Brands Shine at Spikes Asia 2026
- The ad that can only be seen on SBS | Campaign
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