06/24/2008
Gay Rights Leader Slams Heinz for Pulling Gay Ad
Ben Summerskill, head of UK gay rights group Stonewall, has slammed Heinz for pulling its Deli Mayo advertisement, saying the company has insulted a broad base of gay consumers to appease a few vocal right-wing Christians. Writes Summerskill, in the Guardian:
"Any nod at all to the very existence of homosexuality might be enough to have Mary Whitehouse twitching in her celestial bathchair, but the Heinz peck broadcast last week had not even been shown in front of the children the ad is claimed to have upset. (The Deli Mayo it promotes is so unhealthy that Heinz is not allowed to advertise it during children's programmes.) And while Heinz's decision to withdraw the ad might be seen by them as an easy way to palm off 200 fundamentalist Christian complainants, it seems to have been made under the quaint impression that it will cause no offence to Britain's 3.6 million lesbian and gay consumers. Or any of their friends. Or families. Or colleagues. It also seems to have been made mindless of the impact it will have on Heinz's lesbian or gay staff, or graduate recruitment programme. Do young people nowadays really want to work for a business so demonstrably out of touch with the way we all live now?"
Summerskill also said he hopes gays and lesbians will stop purchasing Heinz products.
Previously
Heinz Deli Mayo Ad Pulled in UK [tr]
Heinz Deli Mayo is Perfect for all Kinds of Homes [tr]
Posted 12:07 PM EST by Andy in Advertising, Food & Drink, Kiss, News | Permalink
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there's a petition online already asking to re-instate the advert: http://www.PetitionOnline.com/heinz/petition.html
Posted by: ebby | Jun 24, 2008 12:44:10 PM
Heh, thanks Ebby!
Posted by: John C | Jun 24, 2008 1:17:45 PM
Seriously? Heinz made the ad in the first place, so the company is at least somewhat gay-friendly by default and is now forced to go against its intentions by pulling the ad. And Summerskill attacks them for being homophobic? Talk about biting the hand that feeds you. A much better approach is to work WITH Heinz to reassure them that their first thoughts were correct, not to piss them off and have them avoid any future gay-friendly public relations for fear of reprisals from BOTH sides. Summerskill is disgustingly working against our cause, not for it.
Posted by: wow | Jun 24, 2008 3:43:58 PM
You guys are idiots. It's not a gay commercial. It's a joke. The person making the sandwiches is a woman. She's the wife and mother. Did you notice that the kids called her "mum"? She looks and sounds like a New York deli guy because she's using Heinz Deli Mayo. Heinz didn't pull the ad because they're anti-gay. They pulled the ad because no one was smart enough to get it.
Posted by: ReeGre | Jun 24, 2008 8:53:03 PM
i'd have to agree with REEGRE.
otherwise this commercial would make little sense or none at all.
Posted by: Pagan | Jun 26, 2008 6:57:50 AM