Neymar angers Brazilian gay community with ‘homophobic’ underwear commercial

As a man with at least 11 separate sponsors, Neymar spends a lot of his free time shilling an array of goods and services. For the past few years, the future Barcelona star has modeled for underwear peddler Lupo, but his latest commercial with the company has evoked plenty of controversy.

In the clip set in a store, Neymar is happy to dance around in his underpants for female customers, but when a male customer asks to see the goods, he sneaks out of the door in a comical Looney Tunes fashion.

According to Spanish sports newspaper Marca, this last scene has angered the Brazilian gay community, who say it is homophobic and sexist.

Lupo have since been forced to issue a statement, in which they insist the commercial is not homophobic, adding that they wish to "ensure respect for all consumers of their products, regardless of social class, nationality, religion and sexual orientation." Neymar sneaking away from the muscular gentleman was supposed to give the ad a "playful tone," they argue.