Heinz has pulled a TV advert in the UK that featured two men kissing after 200 consumers complained that it was offensive.
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The advertisement for Heinz Deli Mayo depicted a typical morning scene with two children and a father getting ready to leave for school and the office. A man in a New York deli outfit is making sandwiches. The children refer to him as “mum” and when the husband goes to leave the deli worker is given a goodbye kiss.
AMV BBDO, the advertising agency who made the ad, said the concept was that the product “tastes as if you have your own New York deli man in your kitchen”.
The UK’s Advertising Standards Authority received complaints that the advert was “offensive”, “inappropriate” and unsuitable for children to see.
The advertising campaign, which was due to run for five weeks, was pulled after just one week on air.
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By GlobalData“Heinz pulled the ad in the UK because our consumer research showed that the ad failed in its attempt to be humorous and offended people on all sides of the debate,” Heinz spokesperson Michael Mullen told just-food.
“Heinz apologises for its misplaced attempt at humour and we accept that this ad was not in accordance with our long-standing corporate policy of respecting everyone’s rights and values.”
However, the decision to withdraw the commercial has met some criticism from gay rights campaigners who have accused Heinz of caving in to homophobic sentiment.
The ASA is yet to decided whether or not to investigate the advert.
