The archive · Advertising · Marketing decision · 2025–2026
SBS's 50th-birthday ad is a streaker so explicit it can only air on SBS — Entertainment GP
For SBS's 50th birthday, Droga5 made a 60-second film too explicit for any other network: seeing the ad at all proves the brand goes where others won't.
SBS (Special Broadcasting Service)
What it had to solve
Australia's public multicultural broadcaster SBS turned 50 and faced a perception problem: audiences affectionately joked it stood for 'Sex Before Soccer' and assumed it was safe and niche, while streaming made mainstream TV more homogeneous.
How it works
For SBS's 50th birthday in 2025, the Australian public broadcaster and Droga5 ANZ launched 'We Go There', a brand campaign built on the network's legacy of taking risks. SBS knew Australians joked that its initials stood for 'Sex Before Soccer', and instead of fighting the reputation, the campaign made it the strategy.
The centrepiece was a 60-second M-rated film, 'The Ad That Can Only Be Seen on SBS', in which a cheeky Aussie streaker runs through scenes that only SBS shows — live FIFA football, Alone Australia, a live news broadcast. Because it features full-frontal nudity throughout, no commercial network would air it; it ran on SBS after 8:30pm and on SBS On Demand, while a PG version and teasing outdoor billboards carried the message elsewhere.
The idea made the ad's existence the demonstration of the brand: viewers had to come to SBS to see it. Audience testing found people 'see SBS in a new light' — braver and more diverse than assumed — and the work became a national talking point, winning the Entertainment Grand Prix at Spikes Asia 2026.
Why it lands
- The creative constraint — an ad only SBS can legally air — becomes the proof of the brand claim.
- It turns a public joke ('sex before soccer') into the strategy instead of fighting it.
- Scarcity drives curiosity: an ad you cannot see anywhere else pulls viewers to the platform.
- It is rooted in SBS's real content legacy, so it feels true rather than shocking for its own sake.
What it did
Audience testing showed the ad made people 'see SBS in a new light' — braver and more diverse than they assumed — and it became a national talking point. The campaign won the Entertainment Grand Prix at Spikes Asia 2026.
What you can take
When the medium itself is the proof — an ad that cannot run anywhere else — the restriction becomes the message, and exclusivity plus a little taboo earns more attention than a bigger media buy.
Since then
The hero film stayed on SBS On Demand as part of a 'We Go There' hub, while the wider campaign ran across outdoor and social with a PG version in general rotation. SBS's chief marketing officer said the broadcaster received broad internal support for the idea, and the campaign was later honoured with the Entertainment Grand Prix at Spikes Asia 2026, where it was also recognised as an example of a brand campaign that drives people to a platform rather than reaching the largest audience.
Sources
- Full Frontal Nudity? SBS and Droga5 Prove 'We Go There' In Explicit Ad That Can Only Be Seen On SBS
- We Go There: SBS marks 50 years with launch of 'The Ad That Can Only Be Seen On SBS' via Droga5
- Full Frontal Nudity? Damien Shatford Directs Explicit Ad That Can Only Be Seen On SBS
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