CNNMoney: Snickers pulls plug on Super Bowl smooch ad

[DeepModem Mom]

Snickers pulls plug on Super Bowl smooch ad
Masterfoods kills ad that showed two men 'kissing' after objections by gay rights groups.
February 6 2007


Masterfoods said it has discontinued its Super Bowl ad campaign that featured two men kissing following an outcry among gay and human rights groups.

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- After a number of groups objected, Masterfoods USA, the maker of Snickers candy bars, has pulled the plug on a controversial Super Bowl commercial that showed two men accidentally kissing.

The 30-second commercial featured two mechanics who end up sharing both a Snickers bar and an inadvertent kiss, and then react by pulling out a clump of chest hair to "do something manly."

On its Web site, the candy maker posted three alternate endings to the commercial and reactions from NFL players.

Groups such as the Human Right Campaign and the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) condemned the ad, saying it promoted anti-gay prejudice and condoned violence against gay Americans.

"That Snickers, Mars and the NFL would promote and endorse this kind of prejudice is simply inexcusable," GLAAD President Neil Giuliano said in a statement....

***

Masterfoods, which has discontinued the ad campaign, said the intent of the ad was not to offend, and noted that feedback from its target audience had been positive....

http://money.cnn.com/2007/02/06/news/companies/snickers/index.htm?cnn=yes

[NMDemDist2]

1. GOOD! n/t

[merwin]

28. Did you actually see the commercials?

People are taking these way too seriously.

[NMDemDist2]

32. i saw the broadcast one Sunday

and I thought it was gross. and the "better dead than gay" thing was asinine

[madeline_con]

2. I don't get it.

:shrug:

[boobooday]

3. That's good

Stupidest. Ads. Ever.

:thumbsdown: :thumbsdown: :thumbsdown: :thumbsdown: :thumbsdown:

[ixion]

4. *sigh*

ya know, sometimes people ought not to be so sensitive. We all have to live here, and if one or another group can't take a joke, then we're all pretty much screwed.

[DURHAM D]

8. Really. What minority group are you a part of or what about you

might solicit mistreatment? Anything?

[ixion]

10. well, let's see...

-- I was beaten often by my peers in grade school because I was a book worm.

-- I was treated like scum when I was back-packing around the country because I didn't have a permanent address.

-- I've lived places where being white was defintely being the minority.

So please don't try to tell me that I've never been mistreated.

[DURHAM D]

11. Oh please - all temporary situations.

Your examples are in no way comparable.

Oh, I get it - you must be a white male.

If you would have been around in the first half of the last century I guess you would have told Blacks they just needed to learn how to take a joke. Or women during the past 2000 years.

You just don't get it - Goodbye.

[ixion]

19. that's for making such light order of my life...very compassionate

you ask for understanding and yet you think YOU are the only person (or sub group) that's ever been mistreated.

Changing the world starts with you.

[Umbram]

38. Holier than Thou much? nt.

[treestar]

39. uh, yeah, right

wow, just wow. You are superior for being victimized.

And all white men can never be right and never have any say, because of grounds of birth. Not born into a victimized class? Always wrong. Yeah, right.

Really, this is just as bad as homophobia could possibly be.

[GOTV]

43. Are we having a martyr party? A persecution olympics?

It's nice that we can determine the winners and losers through a few posts on DU.

[Zhade]

22. Okay. Explain it to THIS queer guy, please.

I looooooove guys, especially femme ones, and I don't understand why people are so angry about this commercial.

Now, I didn't see the online alternate endings, or reactions. But I saw the ad when it aired, and wasn't offended. What am I missing here?

[Zhade]

23. dupe

dupe

[Name removed]

12. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Exiled in America]

20. Wow, you are so unbelievably wrong.

Making a commercial that has for its punchline "ew is gross and wrong to be gay" is in no way different than a commercial that has for its punchline "ew its gross and wrong to be black."

Somethings really are representative of ugly parts of our society. It's not about taking a joke - people have the right not to have their very self-identity be the butt of a social joke. When the media is complicit in negative stereotyping that has such a destructive effect on society, it ought to be called on it. You shouldn't simply blow it off and say everyone needs to lighten up.

We don't need to "lighten up" about reinforcing backward, harmful negative stereotypes about members of society.

Yes, its true - it is just a commercial. But the world will be a MUCH better place where more and more people agree that it was a commercial in poor taste.

[ixion]

21. well, truth be told, ALL commercials are in poor taste

In fact, commercials and broadcast news were the primary reasons I dumped cable. I can't stand commercials. I think they're all lame. That's why I don't understand making a big deal about it. The GLBT crowd was NOT the target demographic, obviously, so making a big deal about it simply strengthens the resolve of the group you're demanding accept your lifestyle.

In another post, I was berated for using 'temporary' situations (temporary, that encompassed 20+ years of my life). I was told I didn't get it, nor would I ever, because I was a white male. This argument promotes the system it attempts to reject.


My point is this: in the 'straight' world, that's funny, albeit crude and tasteless, as are all commercials. I've never seen the commercial (nor do I plan to), but I got a chuckle out of the image. I don't feel guilty for chuckling about it. It's a 'guy' thing, as it were. I don't have any less of an opinion of gay people (sexual preference is not a value judgment, IMO).

We have to be able to laugh at all the different kinds of stupid human traits out there. Black people, women, gay people, stupid white guys -- it all starts with being able to accept that not everyone sees the world the way we may, or may want them to see it. The homophobes need to accept the same thing as well. But as long as stuff like this happens, it will get nowhere fast, IMO.

Just my two cents.

[Zhade]

25. HOLD ON. Two problems with your post - it's not a lifestyle, and it's not a preference.

And "all commercials are hateful" is not a cogent argument.

(Mind, I'm uncertain why I as a gay man should hate this commercial, but you've made a couple of errors here that needed to be corrected.)

[ixion]

31. uh, please show me where

I used the word 'hateful'. I said they were vulgar and lame and void of substance, which does not make them 'hateful' by default. And there is ample evidence to prove my thesis in that regard, so I don't really see how it's not a cogent argument.

as for the other, it is for some, and not for others. I've known people who have said it is genetic, and I've met others who claim it's a lifestyle choice.

As I mentioned earlier, it really doesn't matter to me either way. Sexual preference is not a virtue, IMO. I value people on who they are, not who they like to date. ;-)

[Zhade]

24. Yet I'm a queer guy, and I thought it was mocking the GUYS, not hating on people like me!

What am I missing here?

Seriously - this is bugging me. I know this move is going to make people whine about how "the fags got their panties in a knot", and I need to know what the heck to say if it comes up.

[MilesColtrane]

34. The punchline was look how stupid people are who think "ew it's gross and wrong to be gay".

[Kagemusha]

5. What a silly statement to the media..

Feedback from its target audience had been positive? Yeah, and stomping on an Israeli flag would get a good reaction from a target Neo-Nazi audience too. What a shallow defense. Come on. They must pay their PR people better than that.

[truthisfreedom]

6. Eating food out of someone else's mouth is disgusting, period. The only time it was cute or funny

was in The Lady and the Tramp.

[Bjorn Against]

7. Notice they did not mention what was in the "alternate endings"

Maybe if more people knew that one of these ads involved beating a person with a wrench and slamming his head into the hood of a car they would get an idea of just how vile this ad campaign was. As they describe it in this article it almost seems as if the Mars company was simply a victim of bad judgment, but when they directly promote violence against gays it is more than just bad judgment. If more people knew just how bad those alternate endings were there would be a lot more outrage, but CNN didn't want outrage. After all how much money do they take from Mars in ad revenue?

[Zhade]

26. HOLY CRAP. Is that what I'm missing here???

Unbelievable - now I AM against this campaign! Cripes!

[Casablanca]

9. Make the comment, then field the objection by immediately withdrawing the comment.

It's a generic "Law and Order" courtroom tactic.

Masterfood's fees are probably based on how many groups like GLAAD they offend.

[jhasp]

13. I thought that the commercial was funny.

To me it just showed how stupid extreme homophobia is. Oops, I just kissed another man and so now I must do something extremely painful or I might catch TEH GHEY!

[AnneD]

14. I did too...

thought the joke was on homophobic men-the chest hair thing had me lmao.

[Casablanca]

16. If it was a frat boy that got belted instead of a homophobe, I'd be applauding.

I haven't seen the ad yet and have no opinion about it - I was just commenting on the utter horseshit pretense of the PR company and their corporate client of having no idea that the ad would offend somebody.

Because, as we all know, corporations are as pure as the driven snow.

[Nicholas D Wolfwood]

36. That's how I saw it too.

People don't understand satire anymore.

[Bjorn Against]

37. I understand satire, and this is not satire.

It is the cruelest and sickest form of humor imaginable, it is hate speech. Do you know anything about the alternate endings? One involved a person getting beaten with a wrench and then slamming the other persons head into the hood of a car. There are many gay people who have suffered beatings like that, for a company to make a joke out of it so they can sell more candy bars is sickening.

[Nicholas D Wolfwood]

41. No, I don't know about the alternative endings.

They were not put on TV. The only ad I saw was the one during the Super Bowl, and that was satire, unquestionably.

I apologize that I was ignorant on the other ads on their website. If they are as you say, I'd agree, those are hate speech.

[Bjorn Against]

45. I am neutral on the Super Bowl ad itself, it is the rest of the campaign that I don't like

If all I saw was the Super Bowl ad I could probably dismiss it as a bad attempt at satire, but when you look at the campaign as a whole it is much worse than what you saw on the Super Bowl.

[Zodiak]

44. Hey, I've seen it spelled that way before

"The Ghey".

Is this a common term because I only thought it existed on one message board (@forumz)?

[w4rma]

46. Apparantly it's the alternate (violent) endings that were the big problem. (nt)

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

15. You'd rather they keep airing?

[Casablanca]

17. What gave you that idea? nt

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

18. You seemed upset they were withdrawing the commercials.

[Casablanca]

29. No, just calling them on the bullshit premise that they didn't know the ad would offend. nt

[aaronbees]

27. Good

Political activism gets something done!

[Behind the Aegis]

30. Good.

Glad some of us are unwilling to "learn our place" or "just get over it."

[soleft]

33. Anybody remember who the NFL players were on the website?

I didn't see it, I'm curious to know who the players were.

[mr1956]

35. Check out the facts

Even though the original website has been taken down I was able to find screenshots and info by googling "snickers ad" and going to a link to american blog spot. It described fully the alternative endings. I wonder who Mars considers their target demographic, probably adolescent boys. I personally thought the ad was stupid but apparently it could have been much worse.

[Umbram]

40. Oversensitivity run amok.

Funny, I read the CNN headline this morning that the ad had been pulled. I thought to myself:
The fundies must have thrown a fit because two men essentially kissed on TV.

Nope - just the opposite, apparently we (progressives) have won a war against a commercial that, if anything, is making fun of a couple homophobes.

Congrats.

Note - I'm only talking about the ad that was actually AIRED.

[HughBeaumont]

42. Good. Lets see if GM follows suit with IT'S highly insensitive commercial

Not that the two are comparable in repulsive statements, mind you. That Snickers ad, with it's "being gay is not right" message SHOULD be removed; it's as vile a statement as the ABC disclaimer before Ellen, implying there's something wrong with her.

The GM one (robot getting downsized, forced into dead end jobs, suicide, ha ha, very funny motherfucker) looked like it was written by board members who could care less about the peons; you drop that screw, have fun "takin' my order please" . . . oooh, here comes the firing finger! Replace that robot with a human, and you get the real life picture.

"Obsessed with quality"; you know, because GM makes such quality gas guzzlers and all.

Overall, I think this Super Bowl had the holy mountain of mean-spirited commercials. Have the locker room bullies taken over our marketing departments?