Smooching Hubbies Targeted by Christian Group -- and the Ad Hasn't Even Aired Yet!

smooching-heinz.jpg

The American Family Association has convinced Heinz to suppress a Deli Mayo ad that hasn't even appeared on American TV.

The spot features a male couple kissing good-bye. And unlike the trashy Snickers kiss ad, which generated national backlash during Super Bowl 2007, it takes a step toward normalizing the gay family:

Morning sun pours through an ordinary kitchen. Two kids dash downstairs to collect lunch from Mom, who turns out to be a man with a deli cap and a deep Brooklyn accent. Dad, a British businessman, yanks on his jacket and prepares to head out the door, when Mom goes "Hey -- aren't you forgettin' somethin'?"

The dreaded Parent Kiss ensues. It's chaste but loving -- a familiar halfway-out-the-door kiss.

The AFA launched a MoveOn-style email campaign to 3.5 million subscribers, denouncing it as the "kind of ad we can expect to see in California as they prepare to vote on homosexual marriage."

Okay, that's just plain bitchy.

But it also worked: Heinz called the AFA to say complaints have bogged its system down, and the ad will not run again.

It was already running in Mother England -- the source of all the oppression from which the Puritans sought to liberate themselves. History's got a bitchin' backhand.

by Angela Natividad    Jul- 2-08   Click to Comment   
Topic: Brands, Cause, Commercials, Television, Worst   

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Comments



Comments

seems to me like evberybody's missing the point. I just saw this for the first time today and it's not taking a step towards normalizing gay parents or whatever. And iut's not advocating gay marriage either. It seems pretty clear that Mom isn't really the deli guy. In reality, she's a british woman. But, since she's using Heinz mayo, she's taking on a New York Deli attitude. It's fucking hyperbole. Calm down everyone.

Next we'll all be getting upset because the honeycomb tv spots are advocating kids turning into werewolf cereal monsters.

Posted by: oatsoda on July 2, 2008 1:23 PM

Oatsoda is correct - how is it everyone missed the point of the commerical? It's not that subtle.

Posted by: Jenniferwriter on July 2, 2008 3:12 PM

Can a fear be more irrational? The commercial never ran in the U.S.! I say it's only a matter of time before some kind of Christian Taliban rules the country.

Posted by: Somebody on July 2, 2008 3:23 PM

Ad agencies should do whatever the religious right wants them to do. As long as they're making money, they should go ahead and pitch cigarettes and porn, too. Or, wait, maybe they won't like that either.

Posted by: agent t on July 6, 2008 7:35 AM

Ad agencies should do whatever the religious right wants them to do. As long as they're making money, they should go ahead and pitch cigarettes and porn, too. Or, wait, maybe they won't like that either.

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Posted by: Agent T on July 6, 2008 7:36 AM