Not having a television, I get my news about the great service that our broadcasters are offering us from pro-life websites. Thus I find that Heinz has dropped a TV advert for its mayo because 200 people have complained about a gay kiss in the advert. (Cf. LifeSite news article)The Pink Paper has picked up the story (Warning: this is a site that has stories such as '"Eco-dildo" a useful bulwark against oil price instability.') It refers to the key article by Ben Summerskill of Stonewall in the Guardian: Beanz meanz bigotz calling for a boycott of all Heinz products.
I thought that this story might be a gift for headline writers. Such is the nervousness over the whole issue, however, that the headlines are all very prim and proper. Lifesite's "Heinz in Pickle" and the Grauniad's "Heinz mayo ad too saucy" are about as far as people are prepared to go. Let's see if the bloggers can do better!
It seems to me that Ben Summerskill has missed the obvious irony of this whole affair. If I were writing for a gay paper, I would point out how ludicrous it is that one the one hand the Catholic adoption agencies are being compelled to choose between closure and the denial of their principles over the question of giving children to gay couples; and on the other hand, an advert featuring a gay kiss is withdrawn because children might be offended by it.
However, I'm not writing for a gay paper so can I point out how ludicrous... (etc. as above)
The gay boycott of Heinz products is an interesting challenge to the world of retailing. Having been caught in a cleft stick by putting on the silly advert, Heinz executives must be really shouting at some poor "creative" type who got them in this mess. They will know that there are far more family-friendly consumers to offend but will not want to lose custom from a vociferous minority. My guess is that retailers might want to steer clear of pitching explicitly for the pink pound - it is not worth the hassle.
15 comments:
They really should be yelling not at the "Creative type" so much as the idiot who rubber stamped the advert. in the first place. S/he must have been smoking crack at the time.
BTW, does "blowback" have the same connotations over there as it does over here? =:^P
Err. Really not sure. Heinz beans and their flatulence-inducing properties have been the butt of many schoolboy jokes over the years.
I'll take that as a "yes." ;-D For a moment there I thought you were going to say there was a subliminal message re: the way the beans are arranged!
"Butt" being another unfortunate phrase!
Paul Johnson in this week's Spectator says that the three most powerful lobbies in this country today are the homosexuals, the mullahs and the greens.
He goes on to say that the homosexuals are the top interest: they are numerous, powerful and well coordinated among the elites.
Antagonise them at your peril!
Surely it's the adoption agencies that have missed the trick. "The Heinz Childrens' Society" does have a contemporary ring to it. And, being a philanthropic multi-national, Heinz could pay back the ten million quid that`s gone missing, in order to help the agencies that HAVE stood firm to fight any challenges. It`s a win win situation. (or should that be wind, wind)
I'm sorry but who is that has been offended by this advert. Is it children, gays or common sense.
Please explain this to a simple happily married mum of six.
Heinz said - "Heinz UK explained that the advert was supposed to be a funny twist on the traditional mother preparing packed lunches for her children and husband. In this case, Heinz explained that the point was that its New York Deli Mayo was so authentic that "mum" becomes as good as a real New York delicatessen man".
Ye right - what a load of backtracking bull-excreta!!! How dare Heinz poke fun at the basic unit of society - the father, mother and children commonly known as 'the family'.
Heinz are forgetting that they have built their multi-billion dollar business off the backs of families over the last 100 years or so. If they want to generate the few extra 'homo-dollars' then I believe the rest of the bean-eating world should boycott them. How dare they promote degenerate lifestyles and the homosex agenda on TV or anywhere else for that matter.
I'll stick to Crosse & Blackwell or Sainsbury's own brand from now on. Heinz - nah, stuff your beanz where the sun don't shine. Enough said!
Hey, Heinz has always been overpriced and not worth the price, Sainsbury's and Tesco's own brand tastes just as good. Mind you what are they promoting?.
Good heavens.
Buying Heinz beans seems suddenly to be have beome something of a minefield.
On the one hand, there is a gay boycott of Heinz products ("Beanz meanz boycottz").
Right-ho. All the more beans for the rest of us.
But Gorge's comment points out the recent Heinz advertisement promotes the homosexual agenda and pokes fun at family values. For this reason, he suggests a boycott of Heinz products.
Therefore, if I follow George's boycott, my action could be misconstrued as a gesture of solidarity with the gay boycott.
Why don't I simply buy another brand ? Yes, but I happen to think Heinz beans taste the nicest.
I never thought buying baked beans would produce such a moral dilemma.
OK, so I think this was a weird idea for a commercial, but I actually think that the idea in the ad man's head was nothing homosexual at all.
The way I see this ad (it's posted on You Tube) is that the "deli man" isn't really there... There's really a mother there, a British woman making lunch for her kids and husband. However, the mayo is so authentic, that it's LIKE there is a New York deli owner.
Weird, but it would have been completely harmless if it had started and ended with the actually woman who "became" the deli man once the Mayo was pulled from the fridge.
I wrote about this and offered some commentary the other day at my blog [http://www.daily-peep.com/miscellany/?p=28]. Living in Pennsylvania, and less than an hour from Pittsburgh, most of my life I have had the opportunity to see the contributions that Heinz has made through cultural contributions, such as the Heinz Hall and Heinz Feild, but this really makes me angry with the company, they better shape up, or--to use a bad cliche--I'll ship out.
Fr. Finigan says, Heinz beans and their flatulence-inducing properties have been the butt of many schoolboy jokes over the years.
Ah, yes, I caught wind of that; an ill wind that blows no good.
--Guy Power
Gosh, I don't buy Heinz products just because the money eventually ends up in John Kerry's campaign warchest, or given out to looney leftist charities favored by Teresa Heinz Kerry.
And if I want real Boston Baked Beans, and don't have time to slow cook them myself, I buy B&M or Friends beans.
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