Kiss goodbye to your sales, Stonewall tells 'homophobic' Heinz

Gay rights supporters have been urged to boycott Heinz products after the company dropped a mayonnaise advertisement that showed two men kissing. Campaigners insisted that Heinz had capitulated to a concerted homophobic campaign.

The corporation decided to withdraw the light-hearted Deli Mayo commercial within days of its launch because it was "listening to its consumers".

The Advertising Standards Authority said yesterday that it had received 202 objections from viewers, a high number in such a short time but that total is only a quarter of the complaints that came in for a VW Polo advertisement that featured a shivering dog outside a car.

The ASA said viewers had complained that the Heinz scene depicting two men giving each other a quick kiss goodbye was "offensive", "inappropriate" and "unsuitable to be seen by children". The jokey commercial depicts a classic morning scene at a family home as the children pick up their sandwiches for school. "Mum", however, has been replaced by a male New York deli worker clad in a chef's hat and apron. As the father of the house grabs his sandwich and bids goodbye with the words "See you tonight, love", the deli worker looks affronted.

"Hey, ain't you forgetting something?" he says as the father returns for a peck on the lips, calling: "Love you. Come straight home from work, sweet cheeks."

A spokesman for the ASA said it has yet to decide whether to investigate if the commercial breached its rules, adding: "Homosexuality in itself is not a breach but they could look at it from the point of view of taste and decency."

Last night, Ben Summerskill, the chief executive of the gay rights group Stonewall, urged its supporters to stop buying Heinz products. "We're shocked that an innocuous ad should have been withdrawn in this way.

"Our phones have not stopped ringing with supporters who are deeply upset. People are surprised they have responded so swiftly to what appears to be organised complaints, a campaign by people deter- mined to be outraged whenever there is any reference to homosexuality, however light-hearted," he added, pointing out that a recent billboard campaign by Stonewall featuring the words "Some people are gay. Get over it!" had drawn around 100 objections in what they believed was another targeted attack.

The Heinz advert was banned from being aired around children's programming, because it fell foul of Ofcom's restrictions relating to products high in fat, salt and sugar. "By responding to claims it damages children, Heinz has drawn attention to the fact it is not allowed to be shown around children's programmes because it is so unhealthy," said Mr Summerskill.

Nigel Dickie, a spokesman for Heinz UK, said the ad was intended as "a humorous take on a slice of life" but the company had decided to pull it before the ASA complaints, because of "consumer feedback".

Mr Dickie added: "Heinz is a global company and we respect all universal rights. The advertisement was intended to be humorous, not designed to cause offence. Clearly it failed in its intent and that is why we took the decision to withdraw it."

He said the company apologised if the short-run campaign, which had been due to run for five weeks, had offended anyone.

'We're shocked

that an

innocuous ad

was withdrawn

in this way'

ben summerskill

Stonewall

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