57 varieties of homophobia

You can bet the bulk of those complaining about a Heinz ad that features a kiss between two men will be religious types. Just a theory. However, the campaign now is not to get the ad off British TV, but to get it back on.

It shows one chap, cooking and called "Mum" by the couple's young children, and then, as the kids leave the kitchen, the "other half" comes in, clearly in a hurry, and "Mum" demands a goodbye kiss from him before he leaves for work. Not amusing, particularly, but kinda nice, and certainly not offensive; and of course it clearly would not have caused one iota of concern had it been a man and a woman.

While the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) have received 205 complaints about the ad (at the last count), they haven't ruled on it. But Heinz themselves have decided to pull it, and that's got gays up in arms. Some have organised an online petition, which you can sign here. It's got 1,300 signatures so far, according to this story in Pink News. The ASA have even received 50 calls and emails from people wanting the ad reinstated.

The paper says:

Gay equality organisation Stonewall said the complaints were part of an orchestrated campaign, similar to the one that targeted their "Some People Are Gay: Get Over It" billboard adverts.

Heinz won't talk to Pink News, but have told the UK's Independent, "The advertisement was intended to be humorous, not designed to cause offence to anyone. Clearly it failed in its intent to amuse and that is why we took the decision to withdraw it."

The ASA said that 200 of the complaints related to the gay kiss in the advert, and that it would not make a judgment on whether or not to investigate a potential breach of taste-and-decency rules until the end of next week.

Anyway, take a look for yourself in the video below.