Heinz Recipe for Trouble: Hold the Ad
A Commercial for Heinz Deli Mayo Stirs Up Controversy in the U.K.

By ELIZA BROWNING
LONDON, June 26, 2008

The Heinz Co., best know for its '57 Varieties' slogan, is finding out that
there is more than one variety of public relations trouble.

The condiment giant yanked a television commercial last week for its new
Heinz Deli Mayo in Great Britain because of complaints that the ad featured
a quick kiss between two men.

But taking the ad down may have only compounded Heinz's problem by angering
the country's gay activists, who are now organizing online protests and
calling for a boycott of all Heinz products.

The commercial, which only ran in Great Britain, begins with a morning
routine: Two young children get ready for school, a father prepares for
work, and a man with a New York accent and dressed as a deli worker makes
sandwiches in the kitchen.

The children call the deli worker Mum, and as the father leaves for work he
says, "See you tonight, love," and leans over the counter to kiss the cook
before heading out the door.

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Heinz 'men kissing' ad: US Christian group urged firm to pull commercial

Mark Sweney, guardian.co.uk,
Tuesday July 1, 2008

The American Family Association, a powerful Christian group, has emerged as
a key player pressuring Heinz to pull its Deli Mayo commercial featuring two
men kissing – even though it was never broadcast on US TV.

Heinz's US HQ was flooded with emails complaining about the Deli Mayo ad,
which was only broadcast in the UK, after the AFA found out about it via the
internet and mobilised its 3.5 million members.

The AFA, which says it stands for "traditional family values" and targets
the "influence of television and other media" on society, sent an email
"action alert" to its 3.5 million subscribers denouncing the Heinz Deli Mayo
commercial as the "kind of ad we can expect to see in California as they
prepare to vote on homosexual marriage".

"I thought you might be interested in seeing the Heinz ad featuring a
homosexual family and two homosexuals kissing," said the email action alert.

"We suggest you forward this to all your family and friends letting them
know of the push for homosexual marriage by Heinz. This ad is currently
running in England, but no doubt can be expected in the US soon."

The action alert, sent out on June 24, included the phone numbers of Heinz's
US corporate headquarters and an email letter of complaint for subscribers
to support.

Cindy Roberts, the director of media and public relations at the AFA, told
MediaGuardian.co.uk that after the alert was sent out Heinz US called to let
the organisation know the ad would not run again.

Roberts said Heinz had admitted that the volume of AFA members' email
complaints had "bogged the [computer] system down".

The AFA alert was sent out a day after MediaGuardian.co.uk revealed that
about 200 viewers had complained about the ad to UK's Advertising Standards
Authority.

Heinz UK said it actually pulled the ad on Friday June 20, several days
before the AFA got involved.

But Heinz UK only put out an official statement on Monday last week, June
23, saying it had taken the decision to pull the campaign because "some
consumers raised concerns over the content of the ad".

A Heinz UK spokesman said the company took the decision after receiving "30
to 40" complaints "from all sides of the debate, not from one side
exclusively".

Despite the UK's pre-emptive move, the AFA appears to have applied
significant pressure in the US that contributed to Heinz putting out a
second, much more strongly worded statement distancing the company from the
Deli Mayo TV ad.

"Heinz apologises for its misplaced attempt at humour and we accept that
this ad was not in accordance with our longstanding corporate policy of
respecting everyone's rights and values," said the statement, which was put
out by Heinz US the day after the AFA galvanised its members to protest.

Michael Mullen, the director of global corporate affairs at Heinz, declined
to reveal how many complaints - or how many votes of support - the company
had received about the TV ad.

"The ad was intended to be humorous and was not intended to be an advocacy
ad," said Mullen in an email statement to MediaGuardian.co.uk.

"Heinz made the proactive decision to withdraw the ad before we were
contacted by the American Family Association."

Wayne Besen, an executive director of gay advocacy group The Truth Wins Out,
appeared on a CNN debate in the US last week discussing the Heinz ad.

In the debate he raised issue of how the AFA, a powerful American lobby
group, had played a role in the strong stance Heinz US had adopted over the
ad.

"They are a very powerful constituency, a very powerful lobby group. They
are one of the top groups in the religious right in America," Besen told
MediaGuardian.co.uk.

He added that the AFA had gone after companies including Disney and Ford in
the past.

"They have a lot of experience mobilising campaigns and boycotts. They are
like a puritanical national nanny," Besen said.

To contact the MediaGuardian news desk email editor@mediaguardian.co.uk or
phone 020 7239 9857. For all other inquiries please call the main Guardian
switchboard on 020 7278 2332.

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Britain’s 3.6 million strong gay community call for a boycott of all things
Heinz!

Heinz found itself in the middle of a PR disaster last week after pulling
their ‘hilarious’ TV ad for all the wrong reasons.

The ad in question tried to offer a humorous take on a family leaving for
the day with their packed lunches, but “mum” in the kitchen was replaced by
a male deli worker with a New York accent.

It had a 30 second spot which was shown on terrestrial TV last week and
resulted in what can only be described as ‘outrage’ among middle England
where members of the public were horrified at the sight of two men having a
quick peck on the lips. Shock! Horror! How dare they?!

The Advertising Standards Authority was inundated with more than 200
complaints after just one week of scheduling on terrestrial channels. Some
viewers had found it ‘highly offensive’ and ‘unsuitable for children’.

Some red tops reported that parents were ‘angry’ because they had been
forced to explain same-sex relationships to their youngsters who asked them
about the ad. Not sure if that’s Heinz’s fault however, more like bad
parenting.

In response, Britain’s 3.6 million strong gay community have called for a
boycott of all things Heinz to prove a point. Not sure if that’s the right
approach but good luck to them. It’s pretty upsetting to find we are still
in fact, living in rather homophobic times. It’s just an advert for goodness
sake!

source: http://www.utalkmarketing.com/

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WHAT CAN YOU DO?

See the original advert and read comments about it on my [Chaz Antonelli's] blog at:
http://mc4bbs.livejournal.com/183580.html and at
http://mc4bbs.livejournal.com/184097.html

Add your name to the over 12,580 signatures already on the "reinstate its
Deli Mayo TV advertisement" petition at
http://www.petitiononline.com/heinz/petition.html

Let Heinz know that YOU WILL NO LONGER buy their products and, as a gay man,
will activily take a stand against anyone or any company that caters to the
homophobic. Send them your personal comments here:
http://www.heinz.co.uk/content/talk_to_us.aspx

In the United States?  Write a letter to their H.Q.

Address it to:

William R. Johnson, Chairman
H.J. Heinz Co.
1600 Grant Street
Pittsburgh, PA 15219