Monday, June 23, 2008

Heinz Pulls Ad With Two Men Kissing

Heinz Mayonaise has been airing the commercial below within Britain, and it is meant to be comical in nature. Anti-gay activists have raised a storm with Heinz which has decided to pull the ad from TV stating: “It is our policy to listen to consumers. We recognize that some consumers raised concerns over the content of the ad and this prompted our decision to withdraw it,” said Nigel Dickie, Director of Corporate Affairs for Heinz UK.

“The advertisement, part of a short-run campaign, was intended to be humorous and we apologize to anyone who felt offended,” said Dickie.



If you are so inclined to tell Heinz that their decision to bow to anti-gay activists is shameful click here for their e-contact form.

8 comments:

shrink on the couch said...

I'm so disappointed they pulled this ad! When I first saw it (a friend forwarded it to me) I thought - YES! Way to go, Heinz!

But I also understand that the corporate world has very little backbone when the almighty dollar and market shares are potentially at stake. boo hiss boo.

Diane J Standiford said...

Thank you. Will let them hear from me and my peeps.

Queers United said...

phd its all about the almight dollar, and its sad that these anti-gay activists were able to sway them.

diane thanks for taking action on this =)

Anonymous said...

What cowards! I am boycotting Heinz for pulling the ad! And I'm telling others to do the same. Shame on them. I am so ANGRY! I am sick and tired of homophobes. If they had shown the men shoot each other instead, it wouldn't be taken off the air. People would find that funny and normal. And we wonder why people are so messed up!

AnyDreamWillDo said...

I've complained, glad you published this! Thanks!

Anonymous said...

Wow. Women in bikinis can sell beer. Mothers and daughters can sell femine products. Guys can sell BBQ grills and cable TV. Bears can sell toilet paper in the woods. And we can watch Smilin' Bob sell male enhancement....but 2 gay men raising a family and selling mayonaise is offensive?? Still goes to show that we have some growing to do. Well, Smilin Bob doesn't but you get the idea.

marjorie said...

short excerpt from a longish letter i have sent to the ad agency that created this brilliant ad, copy will go to heinz:

would these same people be as shocked and dismayed if this couple had been two women?
i somehow think not. after all of the following high profile lesbians, (living or not) . . .
rosie o'donnell,lily tomlin, kd lang,ellen degeneres,melissa etheridge, sandra bernhard, virginia woolf,gertrude stein, sara waters, jeanette winterson,audre lord, joan armatrading,
ad infinitum, have been embraced on a global level by famous media presenters & public alike for years!

oh. sorry, i forgot: they are 'famous'! and they don't have penises, and we ALL know what unpleasant imagery that give rise to! (pun intended.)

Queers United said...

thanks everyone for taking action on the issue! I think they are feeling the heat, we are certainly getting a lot of media attention. bad for heinz good for queers!

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