AnOther's Diet Coke Break

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Paul Newman nominated by Laura Bradley
Paul Newman nominated by Laura Bradley

This year Diet Coke, the much-loved, low fat counterpart of Coca Cola, celebrates its thirtieth birthday. To mark the anniversary, and to indulge our own guilty pleasures, here the AnOther team select their dream Diet Coke break hunks...

This year Diet Coke, the much-loved, low fat counterpart of Coca Cola, celebrates its thirtieth birthday and three decades of proving more popular than ever - following the recent declaration that it's the world’s second favourite fizzy drink after full-fat Coke. Cool and refreshing it may undoubtedly be, but it was arguably the 90s "Diet Coke break" ad campaigns that closed the deal on the drink's enduring appeal. Showcasing a topless and sweat-beaded example of male perfection – usually in the guise of a construction worker – the iconic shoots centered around said hunk cracking open his break time can of Diet Coke with a satisfying hiss, as a group of (equally hot) businesswomen gathered around a window, in delirious anticipation for the daily viewing.

To mark the anniversary, and to indulge our own guilty pleasures, here the AnOther team select their dream Diet Coke break hunks...

Laura Bradley, commissioning editor of AnOthermag.com: "I think I was born in the wrong era. 50 years earlier and Paul Newman and I could've been very happy together. There's nothing I don't like about that man – his pool table moments in The Hustler, his sweaty boxing and boiled egg eating scenes in Cool Hand Luke. his rebellious persona, his blue eyes and the countless images of him with his wife Joanne Woodward. When asked once about infidelity, he famously quipped, "Why go out for a hamburger when you have steak at home?"

Katie Shillingford, fashion director: "Very obvious, I know, but Johnny Depp was on my wall for so many years...and I had every single film and interview recorded on vhs in a very obsessive, desperate teenage girl kind of way.

"There's nothing I don't like about that man – his pool table moments in The Hustler, his sweaty boxing and boiled egg eating scenes in Cool Hand Luke"

Sofia De Romarate, senior fashion editor: "It was 1984, i was a teenager, he was my first love...T.L.A. Matt Dillon in the Flamingo Kid"

Agata Belcen, fashion editor: "Jeremy Irons in Brideshead Revisited. Oh how I wish we could have met."

Zoe Maughan, photographic editor: "Hotter than my cooker...I choose Christian Bale to be my husband, forever and ever amen. Honestly, I'm a little bit seduced by the Batman, I should have been cast as Catwoman, living happily ever after."

Nell Kalonji, deputy fashion editor: "Ryan Gosling is more of a new crush but definetely worthy of being in the mix. I want to say it is something about his eyes but we all know I would be lying...although they are good too."

Thea Charlesworth, photographic producer: "Emile Hirsch...Lords of Dogtown, Into the Wild, Alpha Dog. He is just too cool!"

Priya de Souza, fashion account director: "I am borderline obsessed with the Olympic gymnast Marcel Nguyen, which is slightly worrying me as I am 30 (much older than him) and newly married! Not only is he extremely pretty (he's half German and Vietnamese), but he's just won two silver medals in spectacular fashion and it is the first time Germany has won a medal in the men's all round since 1936. Talented and beautiful, what more could you ask for?"

Tish Wrigley, editorial assistant: "It's wrong. It's so wrong. It's beyond wrong. But Gerard Butler in PS. I Love You, complete with comedy Irish accent, an unforgivable haircut and the worst leather jacket in history, is currently my dream man."

"The original rebel. His coiffed hair, leathers and cheekbones – James Dean is still the ultimate babe"

Mhairi Graham, fashion coordinator: "The original rebel. His coiffed hair, leathers and cheekbones – James Dean is still the ultimate babe."

Emma Corbett, fashion assistant: "So it was pretty difficult to pick just one hunk but I've chosen Joaquin as Johnny Cash. It's a cliche but he really nails that tortured soul thing. He's also just really hot."

Daisy Woodward, editorial intern: "For me it's Louis Garrel in The Dreamers. He is the definition of sultry and the romantic setting of the film's incredible Parisian flat completes the dream life picture (minus the incestuous tendancies)."