Wednesday 25 June 2008

Let the madness be unconfined.

“A mayonnaise ad that shows two men kissing has been withdrawn from television after 200 viewers complained that it was offensive.
Heinz, which makes the New York Deli Mayo featured in the commercial, pulled the advertisement less than a week into its expected five week run, in response to the criticism.
Viewers told the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) that the ad was inappropriate and unsuitable for children to see. The ASA has not yet decided whether to launch an investigation.
Heinz apologised for any offence caused. “

I’m kind of incensed by this. It seems that Heinz withdrew the ad voluntarily before the ASA had decided anything.
The ad features a family scene in the morning where ‘the mother’ has been replaced in the kitchen by a brawny New York Deli chef whom the children call ‘Mum’. The NYDC is given dialogue appropriate to the dialogue of a mother, and when the husband is leaving says ‘Ain’t ya forgetting something?’, whereupon the husband walks over and gives him a goodbye kiss.
"Love ya! Straight home from work, sweet cheeks," says the chef.
I am rather confused that this ad was deemed unsuitable for children to see. Why the hell is it unsuitable? It is not even suggesting there is any gay relationship. It’s a visual metaphor, and quite a funny one. On the other hand, even if it was a gay relationship, why would that have to be removed from TV?
Supposing this was an inter-racial relationship and 200 people rang up to say this was unsuitable for children to watch? Would the ASA (or Heinz for that matter) actually take any notice? 200 people is a very small number and I suspect that the majority of them go to churches with very long names. In my experience, the longer the name of the Church, the higher the percentage of certifiable bigots within.
Shame on you, Heinz. I for one will get my mayo from somewhere else in future. Yours is beginning to taste very nasty.