Snickers ad pulled after complaints from gays

[Midnight Mike]

Snickers ad pulled after complaints from gays
Candy maker will no longer run 'man-kiss' spot on television or Web site
Feb 6, 2007

HACKETTSTOWN, N.J. - A commercial for Snickers candy bars launched in the Super Bowl broadcast was benched after its maker got complaints that it was homophobic.

The ad showed two auto mechanics accidentally kissing while eating the same candy bar and then ripping out some chest hair to do something “manly.” One of the alternate endings on the Snickers Web site showed the men attacking each other.

The Human Rights Campaign and the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation complained to the maker of Snickers, Hackettstown-based Masterfoods USA, a division of Mars Inc., which also makes M&M’s and other candies.

The Web site also featured video of players from the Super Bowl teams reacting to the kiss.

“This type of jeering from professional sports figures at the sight of two men kissing fuels the kind of anti-gay bullying that haunts countless gay and lesbian school children on playgrounds all across the country,” Human Rights Campaign president Joe Solmonese said in a statement.

GLAAD spokesman Marc McCarthy said Tuesday the group believed “this kind of prejudice was inexcusable.”

Masterfoods spokeswoman Alice Nathanson issued a statement in which she said the company would stop running the ad on television and the Web site.

“As with all of our Snickers advertising, our goal was to capture the attention of our core Snickers consumer,” Nathanson wrote.

“Feedback from our target consumers has been positive. In addition, many media and Web site commentators of this year’s Super Bowl commercial line-up ranked the commercial among this year’s top 10 best." She noted that USA Today ranked it No. 9.

“We know that humor is highly subjective and understand that some people may have found the ad offensive. Clearly that was not our intent,” she wrote.

Masterfoods brands include Uncle Ben’s rice, Pedigree dog food and Whiskas cat food. It is part of Mars Inc., a family-owned company.

[Matt Molnar]

“This type of jeering from professional sports figures at the sight of two men kissing fuels the kind of anti-gay bullying that haunts countless gay and lesbian school children on playgrounds all across the country,” Human Rights Campaign president Joe Solmonese said in a statement.
Groundless complaints by gays about inoffensive commercials fuels the kind of anti-gay bullying that haunts countless gay and lesbian school children on playgrounds all across the country. Morons.

[nwafan20]

I thought the ad was great, I don't see how it was offensive...

[Mateo]

The ad reinforces the stereotype that you're supposed to be homophobic, or that if you share a candy bar Lady and the Tramp style, you'll somehow catch the gay.

[PhilDernerJr]

....you'll somehow catch the gay.

HAHAHA!

If anything, I think that seeing a commercial liek this shows that society is very accepting of the gay community for us to be confident enough to make a joke about it in front of everyone during the Super Bowl. Their whining about it is just a step back from their own progress.

[Conor Clancy]

The problem wasn't really the ad they aired on TV, it was the ones that were shown on the Snickers website in which the "manly" things included drinking motor oil and slamming someone's head under a car hood. As a homosexual, I feel that it was saying that doing these violent things was much better than being gay.

Not cool on the advertisers part. GLAAD was right to call them out.

[Matt Molnar]

The ad reinforces the stereotype that you're supposed to be homophobic, or that if you share a candy bar Lady and the Tramp style, you'll somehow catch the gay.
It's perfectly normal for a straight guy to be grossed out by kissing another man on the lips, just as a gay guy would be grossed out by kissing a girl on the lips. I don't see any homophobia going on.

[Nick]

PC america at it once again. Then people bitch that the halftime shows and commercials suck. This is why.

[T-Bird76]

I don't think this is a gay issue at all. It’s an issue that every dam social group out there gets all upset if they are poked fun at. This issue could have been about woman, African American's, Mexican's, w/e, they'd complain and the ad would be pulled. It’s pretty sad that as a society we can't laugh at each other a bit. There was nothing wrong with the ad or the ads on the website. The fact is each of us has different traits that make the stereotypes somewhat true. As long as the poking fun isn't meant to put down a group then there's nothing wrong with it. My god do we want a society that is so plain that everyone is the same?

[Mellyrose]

The ad reinforces the stereotype that you're supposed to be homophobic

While it might not have been the most appropriate ad, I don't think that it was reinforcing that at all. Just because 2 men don't enjoy kissing one another doesn't mean they're homophobic, it simply means that they aren't gay!

[Matt Molnar]

Yes, in fact by complaining, the gay groups are displaying HETEROPHOBIA.

[Conor Clancy]

I don't think this is a gay issue at all. It’s an issue that every dam social group out there gets all upset if they are poked fun at. This issue could have been about woman, African American's, Mexican's, w/e, they'd complain and the ad would be pulled. It’s pretty sad that as a society we can't laugh at each other a bit. There was nothing wrong with the ad or the ads on the website. The fact is each of us has different traits that make the stereotypes somewhat true. As long as the poking fun isn't meant to put down a group then there's nothing wrong with it. My god do we want a society that is so plain that everyone is the same?

What if it were a commercial about aviation photographers? Saying that what you stood for wasn't "manly" enough? I'm gay, and thought the commercial was funny. However, when Snickers had these alternate endings available, and showed the football players' reactions (some of which were offensive), that's when they took it too far.

And the point of the uproar was so we DON'T have a society that's all the same. By antagonizing gays (which was hopefully not the Mars Corporation's intentions), they're putting us on a road to a society where everything is the same.

So, let's put it in this perspective. Would the reactions by the players be the same if say, it had something to do with being African-American, and the needed to do something "white?"


Yes, in fact by complaining, the gay groups are displaying HETEROPHOBIA.

I hope that was a joke. We're standing our ground. Not making comments about others' sexuality.

[hiss srq]

This garbage is rediculous. Left wingers need somthing to complain about is what is all about. Without complaining they have nothing to do. They spin and spin and spin their worthless lives away with stuff like this. I say keep it airing. Just like the gays protest the right to do things a hetro sexual couple can do so it is hypocracy. They run around flaming in ass chaps and doing things that offend others but it is a stand for their rights as gays but the table turns and it becomes a big boo hoo match. Can we not flame our heterosexuality? I am not a homophobe by anymeans as I have friends who are in fact gay as well as an uncle but come on lets not play this game. Tit for tat tit for tat these games with diffrent social groups are just stupid. We are all freekin humans some like it this way and another likes it that way and some dont at all. Live and let live quit complaining. As if there are not enough issues on the planet as it is that we worry about a candy commercial.

[PhilDernerJr]

I don't see how those alternative endings could amke you feel that you need to do anything masculine unless you have a strong inferiority complex. The men shown were displayed as dirty, grimy, unappealing and unadmirable peopel fromt he get-go. Their post-kiss behavior enforced that, and was more making fun of their own insecurity than anything pertaining to gay people.

[Conor Clancy]

This garbage is rediculous. Left wingers need somthing to complain about is what is all about. Without complaining they have nothing to do. They spin and spin and spin their worthless lives away with stuff like this. I say keep it airing. Just like the gays protest the right to do things a hetro sexual couple can do so it is hypocracy. They run around flaming in ass chaps and doing things that offend others but it is a stand for their rights as gays but the table turns and it becomes a big boo hoo match. Can we not flame our heterosexuality? I am not a homophobe by anymeans as I have friends who are in fact gay as well as an uncle but come on lets not play this game. Tit for tat tit for tat these games with diffrent social groups are just stupid. We are all freekin humans some like it this way and another likes it that way and some dont at all. Live and let live quit complaining. As if there are not enough issues on the planet as it is that we worry about a candy commercial.

Probably the most un-intelligent response in this thread. "Just like the gays protest to do things a heterosexual can do," "They run around flaming in ass chaps and doing things that offend others." Do you know the definition of homophobia.

You offend me, but I'm not calling for a law to be passed so you can't get married.

Phil, you do have a point. They did make sure to pick grimey-looking unappealing men.

[Matt Molnar]

Yes, in fact by complaining, the gay groups are displaying HETEROPHOBIA.
I hope that was a joke. We're standing our ground. Not making comments about others' sexuality.

I was half joking, but since the offense seems to have sprung from the end of the piece, when they declare it's necessary to do something "masculine," it would seem the only acceptable ending would have been for them to embrace their homosexual tendencies, despite being heterosexuals.

[PhilDernerJr]

You offend me, but I'm not calling for a law to be passed so you can't get married.

Great point.


Phil, you do have a point. They did make sure to pick grimey-looking unappealing men.

And that's just it. It's not like these are two guys that society is going to look up to and learn from. there's no reason for it to be looked at and into so seriously.

[PhilDernerJr]

Here's the clip: http://youtube.com/watch?v=JHkoZ7ngAM0

[PhilDernerJr]

I just saw the Milwaukee beer commercial whee the guys are at a campfire, one guy tosses a beer to the other guy and he bobbles it inthe air, ultimately dropping it. Then, a gigantic can flattens him and the narrator says "Men should act like men."

Is that anti-gay?