Are we really going to have to “thank” right-wing zealots like Bill O’Reilly for getting Heinz to yank a mayo ad featuring two dudes kissing? Perhaps. After just a week of airing the ad on British television, the ketchup company has removed the spot — and apologized for it. Heinz has said the ad – where a busy working father rushes his kids off to school, then kisses the (male) cook in the kitchen who prepared their lunches – which wasn’t even supposed to be gay themed; the guy making the sandwiches was supposed to represent a New York deli man, not a house-husband.
But then Britain’s Advertising Standards Authority received 200 complaints about the ad, which mostly outlined how inappropriate it was to show two fellas smooching on national TV. “It is our policy to listen to consumers,” kowtowed a Heinz UK spokesperson. “We recognise that some consumers raised concerns over the content of the ad and this prompted our decision to withdraw it.” Nevermind that the ad was already banished from children’s programming because Heinz Deli Mayo violates a “no products high in fat, salt and sugar” mandate.
And forgive us for noticing the double standard here: While an ad that benignly portrays two men kissing gets booted from the airwaves, an ad like Snickers’ spot from the 2007 Super Bowl, which adds a negative implication about two men kissing, is just fine to air. (In the U.S. at least.) Highlighting aspects of a gay household: bad. Demeaning aspects of a gay household: OK.
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