No Such Thing As Bad Mayo Publicity
The British airwaves are no stranger to men kissing one another. Anybody ever heard of a little show called Torchwood? It's strange, then, that the Heinz mayo ad in which a British businessman kisses a New York deli clerk raised such a ruckus that Heinz actually pulled it.
The ad features a stereotypical New York tough guy in the role of "mum," making sandwiches as a family leaves the house in the morning. As the husband rushes out, he plants a kiss on the white-hatted face. Pretty tame stuff, compared to Skins' Maxxie or the "switch-flicking" kiss from Mighty Boosh. It created a huge backlash from hysterical homophobes (including Bill O'Reilly) furious that two men would kiss on the public airwaves. Heinz bowed to the pressure and yanked it.
Then, this morning, the European gay newspaper Pink News reported that 1,300 (more by now) people had signed a petition calling for the ad to be reinstated. Meanwhile, other bloggers are taking (somewhat obviously tongue-in-cheek) pot-shots at the portrayal of the New Yorker in the piece. Phew, this is getting exhausting. Does nobody have a life anywhere?
So what's causing all this commotion? See for yourself:
Lame, eh? Still, if you just can't stand to get back to work yet, and you feel strongly about it, you could sign this pro-"advert" petition.
Heinz pulls mayo ad after complaints [AP]
1,300 sign online petition calling for Heinz gay ad to be reinstated [Pink News]
Heinz Cans Gay Mayonnaise Commercial [Epi-Log]
