Several readers have sent me an update on the Heinz mayonnaise commercial "row" as it's being referred to in Great Britain. It turns out that Bill O'Reilly isn't the only one who's feeling insecure about his condiments. So many British viewers complained to the Advertising Standards Authority that Heinz voluntarily pulled the ad off the air.File this under "you have got to be kidding me," but the The Telegraph reports:
Viewers complained it was "offensive, "inappropriate" and "unsuitable to be seen by children" and said it raised the "difficulty" of parents having to discuss same-sex relationships with their children.And please understand that this ad never ran with the Saturday morning cartoons, after all. The British have far better ad restrictions than we do. From the Guardian:
The Heinz TV ad carried an "ex-kids" restriction, meaning it could not be shown in or around children's programming, because Heinz Deli Mayo falls foul of Ofcom's TV advert restrictions relating to products that are high in fat, salt and sugar.So, in an effort to make Heinz stop this ridiculous cowering before a handful of complainers, the group Stonewall is calling for a boycott of Heinz. From The Telegraph again:
The gay rights group Stonewall has urged supporters to stop buying Heinz products.Ben Summerskill, the chief executive of the group, said: "We're shocked that an innocuous ad should have been withdrawn in this way. I can't imagine that Heinz would respond to protests about black people featuring in their adverts.
"Our phones have not stopped ringing with supporters who are deeply upset."
Many thanks to all who sent me links on this story.
