Each advert centers around a group of women ogling an attractive man while he works, soundtracked to a version of "I Just Want to Make Love to You".

The first commercial premiered on US television in 1994, and starred American actor Lucky Vanous as a handsome construction worker who removes his shirt while taking his "Diet Coke break".

Two further adverts premiered in 1997: the first, 11.30 Appointment, depicts women in an office gazing lustfully at a window cleaner, while in the second, Dispenser, a delivery man is the object of attention.

Gardener became the most popular piece of advertising that Diet Coke had produced for 20 years, and was the first non-US made Coca-Cola advert to be shown during the Oscars.

The Diet Coke Break campaign is remembered as being one of the earliest examples of gender roles being swapped in TV advertising, with women objectifying attractive men, rather than the other way around – it has been described as "much loved" and "truly iconic".

[6] The advert became a success, leading to Target Based Marketing in Dallas producing a Diet Coke Break screensaver, of which The Coca-Cola Company distributed 33,000 copies to computer users through both direct mail and a promotion with 134 radio stations.

[8] The sequence features a group of women arriving at the reception area of an office building, each one for their "11:30 appointment", then sitting in a room with a large window.

[14] As with earlier Diet Coke Break adverts, Lift was soundtracked by "I Just Want to Make Love to You" – however, rather than James's original version, a new recording by Jocelyn Brown was used instead.

In the commercial, a group of women are sitting in a park drinking Diet Coke and watching an attractive gardener (Andrew Cooper) as he mows the grass.

[18] Once released onto television, the commercial became the most popular piece of advertising that Diet Coke had produced for 20 years, and was the first non-US made Coca-Cola advert to be shown during the Oscars.

Promoting this new campaign, Bobby Brittain, the marketing strategy and activation director of Coca-Cola Great Britain, described the Diet Coke Break adverts as "much loved".

[19] The Diet Coke Break campaign is remembered as one of the earliest examples of gender roles being swapped in TV advertising, with women objectifying attractive men, rather than the other way around.

[25] Speaking in 2001 about his part in the Diet Coke Break campaign, Vanous remarked: "I felt very uncomfortable with that role as a sex object.

"[26] In 2013, the British newspaper The Daily Telegraph included Gardener in an article on "sexist male adverts", citing a debate on the Internet forum Mumsnet over whether it objectified men.

"[28] In 1998, at the UK's 4th National Television Awards, 11.30 Appointment won in the category for Most Popular Advertisement; Merrill attended the ceremony and accepted the trophy.

The advert was also recreated on February 13, 2014, in a stunt at London's Finsbury Avenue Square, which was transformed into a live "hunk experience" with 20 shirtless male models.

As in 11.30 Appointment, the advert shows a topless version of John Smith's mascot (the cardboard cut-out "No Nonsense Man"[31]) being lifted in a suspended platform past the window of an office boardroom in a skyscraper.

As they gather to look out of a window, an attractive surfer (Brock O'Hurn) emerges from the sea, removes his wetsuit and drinks a bottle of water, as the workers ogle at him.

[33] The Huffington Post praised Icelandic Glacial for giving the original Diet Coke advert a "queer makeover" by making one of the people at the window a man.